April 2026. The Easter Vigil, a time of Blessings, I should know. I was baptized on this day of days, to be baptized as another Christian, Episcopalian. However, I & many others of the Cross are not your typical Straight, Hetero Man or Woman; I myself, am an Agender, Pansexual Christian. I’ve been derided as False, a Heretic even. For the simple idea that there is more than just being a man or a woman, that one can date more than just a woman if you are a man, or a man if you’re a woman. Doesn’t that describe many people’s experiences with Christianity nowadays? Hatred, Greed, the use of God and Jesus’ words against those same people they want to “save” your soul. We hear it so often, see it so often. Over Radio, TV, Movies. Your “God’s Not Dead”, heartfelt stories of a Community or a Family together despite their issues because GOD! Tiring, to say the least, especially when you’ve heard it all before, so much that it becomes as annoying as Christmas Music in November.
My fellow Believers, and perhaps Non-Believers, I fear that we have perhaps lost sight of this want for justice, but of another importance entirely. Of what, you may ask? Community. Not just of Christians, or just of Satanists, or Atheists. But of *People*. I’ve seen many of my Brothers, Sisters, those who are Christian dream of insulation. To squeeze out the “Non-Believers”, the “False Christians”, for us to “other” our fellow Believers for just changes in how they believe or practice the Belief in God. We are after all, afraid of change, even those who profess to be willing to hear of others. To be fearful, is to be human. To make errors and be imperfect, but still striving to prove that the Teachings of Jesus were *right*.
Yet. We should not be fearful of those who are on the outside, those who are outside of our Churches. Jesus was accepting of the Beggars, of the Lost, of the Hungry, of the Non-Believers. We are *given* trials, each and every day, by the Father & his Son who is sat at the right hand of God. Trials, that while we may not succeed at first, or perhaps never, why can’t one strive to the end point of it? For Jesus always showed us the way, why can’t we begin to even have a fraction of what he gave to us and try to mold it, to strive to be our Messiah? Is it fear? Temptation? Every time it feels that we make progress, there’s always pushback. Modernity being heralded as Sin against God, that Tradition is what made the Churches of our Land, that Piety is what gives us strength.
We’ve seen it throughout the World, the want to close ranks, and where has that gotten us? The need for more vitriol, to point fingers, to blame each other when we cannot even begin to understand the severity and complexity of a constantly, and rapidly changing world. The Paradox of the Congregation’s Want for the Old, while they have a desire - perhaps, the NEED for New Blood. Change, but not too fast, comfort, but the worry of a Community being slowly ridden off. Does it not describe the empty pews you see every Sunday? The mumblings of your fellow Church Members, on if your Church will make it in having a balanced Budget? They want to save souls lost, but, perhaps some souls you don’t want to interact with out of some malignant fear, a human-made fear? Or, perhaps, the fear that you are not enough of a Christian?
That you are one of those “False” Christians you hear a friend of yours call another for just having a differing idea than they do? It is a doubt that scares those who were once willing and open to shutting the doors to our Churches, when so many need hope in this year, in this life we are all a part of. Believe in yourself, for while we may have our beliefs of a higher being, we have naught by those around us to keep us company and comfort in the days and nights we strive to be a better person - not just a better Christian. Humanity and Christianity are not just words and people, but beliefs in themselves - for the compassion and love for one another. Many already experience it, and they don’t even need a Bible to tell them that, why can’t fellow believers just give a little more heartache for their fellow friends, their neighbors?
To fear is to be human, and to be human, is to have compassion. The Bible and Christianity over all is simply an extension of what Humanity *can* and should be, not just what Jesus showed in his time, but that of what all Humans - no matter who you are - can become if we have simple compassion and love for one another. Go forth in blessings and love for all that you can amount to in your body, for our lives mean more than just the superficial things we achieve. Beliefs are strong, when we can create a better tomorrow for not only ourselves, but those who come after us. We only have one Earth, after all, and while there might not be just one God anymore - no matter how badly Joel Osteen or one of those Televangelists try to profess up and down like a Car Salesman on TV, what stops us from just having a little more compassion for all who live in a world full of Grace?
