Finding My Place in Ritual and Love as a Queer Mennonite
With this person, I wondered, could I be my full self—queer, spiritual, and religious?
It was November of 2016. The waxing nights seemed to mirror the gulf widening between us.
With this person, I wondered, could I be my full self—queer, spiritual, and religious?
On our second date, we sat on a patch of grass and talked for hours. “I don’t agree with everything in conservative religion,” she’d said. “But I do think there is something to not jumping in bed with someone right away.”
Jesus at Shabbat? What was I thinking?
Will this happen to me, too?
you
Stay quiet. Look at the carpet.
One night, I found myself reading the story of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, and Jacob from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim perspectives. I saw that all the stories were similar, but had one main difference—each tradition claimed they were the true chosen people of God. I thought about all the wars fought partly over this idea of chosen-ness, the violence still inflicted to this day.
This is heaven! I am sure it’s okay to go over there. I’m here all alone. Maybe I can join her group
I choose to be chosen and I choose to be loved
Addie Liechty is a Bay Area psychotherapist, singer-songwriter, and writer of poetry and essays. Their writing interests include the intersections of spirituality, religion, psychology, and social justice.
Enter your email address to receive notifications for author Addie Liechty Kogan
Success!
Confirmation link sent to your email to add you to notification list for author Addie Liechty Kogan
More by this author
How Being a Child Elvis Impersonator Helped Me Find My Non-Binary Self
Each performance provided a hit of adrenal love. I lived on it. I survived off of it. Until, that is, that moment in the bathroom when I was thirteen.
More in this series
Cult Confessions: Faith and the Limits of Liberalism
“It never occurred to me to consider Oneida in the same category as an apocalyptic Christian cult.”
Messages from the Dead, Missed Signals from the Living
The night of the spiritualist messaging service was the beginning of the end of my marriage.
Magic Is for Everyone: Meet Some of the Artists Bringing Racial Diversity to Tarot
Creators of new decks seek to address the need for representative and culturally specific tarot.