Ophelia Hu Kinney

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Queerly and Wonderfully Made

Ophelia Hu Kinney

Day 1 of 7: Dealing with Loneliness

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2 (NRSV)

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Out of nothing, God created them. And the Spirit of God hovered over the empty depths of that abyss.

Out of nothing, God created what is. And out of nothing, God created you.

This is our call, too: to stand in the gap between what isn’t and what can be. And as queer Christians, we are called to an existence that can sometimes feel impossible. So, it’s little wonder that, sometimes, we feel alone.

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to have been a Creator calling, humming, laughing life into existence? Have you ever wondered how it felt going from an Us to an “all of us”?

I think God understands loneliness. I think She knows what it’s like to want to be known. Understood. Seen. To be beyond comprehension and to still wish, sometimes, for deep companionship.

In this Jewish creation story, the Creator responds to this absence by creating unexpected community out of unlikely souls. This, I think, is the flare we send up from the depths of loneliness. The gifts of unexpected community are their intentionality and the sweetness of any water found in the desert. In the absence of queer-affirming churches, some Christians meet in homes under the cover of darkness. Some meet online across all borders. In the absence of those who might know us best, we find ways to forgive and repair misunderstanding. We find one another, as deep cries out to deep, and what results is a kind of kinship more true and resilient than what easier community has to offer.

The journey of this faith-life is hard. And your queerness enriches it, but it doesn’t make it easier. You’re walking an ordained path – a necessary path – and you’ll meet unexpected journeyers along the way, also calling, humming, and laughing life into existence. Sing their tune back to them. Sing them your own.

Today, tend to the loneliness of your heart. Go to your Creator, who is with you. Receive her power and courage to seek community in unexpected places. Receive her compassion to seek out those who are lonely in your midst. To whom can you serve as unexpected community? For whom are your kind words or your affirmation a drink of water in the desert?


Ophelia Hu Kinney (she/her)

Ophelia Hu Kinney (she/her)

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