When a member of our LGBTQ+ community is in search of a spiritual connection to life, creation, and the universe it sometimes feels daunting. This is especially true after so many of us have recently experienced the isolation caused by our attempts to live successfully through the pandemic. We are also well aware of the blocks we have experienced when people use religion as an excuse to deny spiritual growth for our community. For many of us the experience of feeling excommunicated from our community, our religious home, and our family has been excruciating and will haunt us as long as we focus just on that experience.

However, the search should not end there. We are living beings. All of us are blessed to have been given life in this universe. Imagine the expanse of this universe that we live in and the beauty of the life that surrounds us and supports us. There can be so many events in our lives that can help us come to this realization: Sitting on a log in a forest and looking up at the towering green life surrounding us. Standing on the shore of an ocean listening to the waves breaking on the beach. Staring at the night sky looking for certain constellations or simply being in awe of the dimensions of our universe. These experiences can help us connect to things much larger than ourselves.

This realization can give us the courage to seek out others who share these experiences. There are religious communities that accept members of the LGBTQ+ community and who can help develop supporting relationships. There are communities that will accept our gifts, that actually do practice the Golden Rule, and who are loving to their neighbors. We just have to seek them out.

Posted by the St. Patrick Church LGBTQ+ Engagement and Accompaniment Circle and Circle of Friends —St. Patrick Catholic Church, 2702 Broadway Ave. E., Seattle, WA. 98102 - All are welcome on Sundays at 10:30 in person or online at www.stpatrickseattle.org // Contact John Dunn at [email protected]