Blessed Are The Poor

 

Queer Sacred Music?

If queer sacred music sounds like an oxymoron, a sacrilege, or a mockery, consider the following:

•  Queer people have had a relationship with the holy, the ground of our being, our ultimate concern, or whatever other term you prefer for the Mystery since time immemorial and sometimes we write music (songs, hymns, and rounds) about it - to celebrate, to worship, to give thanks, to secure ourselves for hard times ahead, to connect with others, and because both music and queerness are wonderful things.

• The idea that queerness - homosexuality, bisexuality, various forms of gender creativity - is inherently profane or the antithesis of holiness was dreamed up by people who either didn't know any LGBTQ+ people or didn't know that some of the gifts that blessed their lives came from LGBTQ+ people.
• For many of us, struggling against social inequality has deepened us spiritually regardless of our religious affiliations or lack thereof. And for some of us, that spiritual deepening is expressed in sacred hymns like this one by Amanda Udis-Kessler

Blessed are the poor, the ones who have been humbled.
They will find abundance waiting at the door.
Now they have a place, a place with nothing wanting,
Finally belonging, radiant with grace.
Let us be assured: Love has gone before. Blessed are the poor.

Blessed are the queer for one way or another,
Everybody wonders: Am I welcome here?
Love has saved a seat, a seat before the table
Waiting for the grateful, laden with a feast.
Cast away your fear. Hear if you can hear. Blessed are the queer.

Blessed are we all, no matter love or gender,
Joyfully together answering the call.
All that we’ve become we offer to our neighbors.
Once we all were strangers, Now, we have a home
Where our hearts are whole, where we are consoled. Blessed are we all.