Embracing Unity and Diversity | Monday Invocation
Welcome to the final invocation of Purpose to Pride Month! Over the last few weeks, we have been celebrating the vibrant and meaningful colors of the original Pride flag, designed by Gilbert Baker. Today, we bring together all the colors of the flag to celebrate unity and diversity within the LGBTQ+ community.
The rainbow flag represents unity and diversity. Each color symbolizes a unique aspect of the LGBTQ+ community and, together, they create a powerful symbol of inclusivity.
As Pride month comes to a close, I find myself feeling like I’m reaching the end of a vacation. For a whole month, there have been queer trivia nights at my local coffee house and pride flags littering lawns and businesses like Christmas decorations. It’s a queer nirvana separate from the other eleven months of the year. It’s a celebration of belonging, even where I live in rural West Virginia. I get to look around and see our unity. We’re here - we’re everywhere - and we belong.
Because of this, I’ve been thinking about place and how it relates to belonging. I recently listened to bell hook’s Belonging, which explores what it means to belong in a place and how physical spaces create belonging. Before embracing my identity, I would have said the Christian church was a place I belonged to. Now, I often feel like I’m not sure. How can I belong somewhere with conditional love?
Galatians 3: 26-29 NIV: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
There is so much in this passage of Galatians. We are children of God through our faith, not our status as a Southern Baptist or Presbyterian. There is unconditional belonging here - one outside of place or church membership. We belong to Christ, and in that, we also belong to each other. While I agree with bell hooks on the importance of a physical place, I also acknowledge the love and solace I have found in this virtual community. We are flesh and blood beings who commit to radical belonging and this creates a very real place for us. We have a seat at the table.
The verse goes on that in Christ there is no longer Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female. While these categories may not exist in Christ, they exist in the world and in the church. These categories have created oppression and harm for all of us in the queer community but especially for our BIPOC and trans siblings.
In thinking about belonging and unity last month, I encourage you to consider diversity not just as what makes our flag such a beautiful thing to behold, but also a promise to create belonging for all of us in the world the way we are promised to Christ in Galatians. Our flag is a declaration to take some of that Pride Month nirvana with us into the rest of the year, but most importantly, to focus on crafting a more inclusive, equitable sense of belonging in our communities.
While I will always consider Pride month a celebratory time, I try to remind myself that the first Pride was a protest. This radical belonging in Christ is not yet reflected in our world. There is still work to be done. Diversity and inclusion are not the same. Unity is needed for belonging.
Cole Arthur Riley says in This Here Flesh that “if we bear the image of God, that means we bear the image of a multitude.” May we bear the image of God in our diversity and in our unity now and in the future. May we bear the image of radical, unconditional belonging.
We have explored the passion and healing, sunlight and growth, and serenity and spirit within the LGBTQ+ community. Now, let's continue to stand in solidarity, supporting LGBTQ+ rights beyond Pride Month.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. We hope you had a happy Pride Month!
Best regards,
