Some Lenten Parallels Of Jesus and Trans People

[VickySGV]

The season of Lent begins in a few minutes my time.  Lent is a time for change and new growth and hard introspection of our lives.  This is something I wrote a few years ago but for those who are Christian and follow a Lenten Discipline I hope this helps.

 

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Jesus knew from a young age that he was different from other children his age.  (See the story in Luke 2, 41:51).  The same scripture shows that his parents had a hard time with this, but that He held onto it in private as many of us do as children. God however knew about Jesus and knows about us in those times.

Jesus was “Outed” by his cousin John.  Between the three Synoptic Gospels, Mark, Matthew and Luke, it’s a little hard to figure whether Jesus wanted John to do this just when he did, IE Jesus wanted to come out of the God Closet, or John forced him out the way people often force us out of our closets and give us no choice of the matter.

Jesus went into a wilderness at this point of being outed.  It is said he fasted and prayed, and was tempted for many things.  On being outed, we too go into a wilderness, but our temptations are a little different.  Our “fasts” are often self-harm and self-loathing where we fear that God cannot accept us.  Our prayers are often for death and not for life, love and acceptance   

 What is a wilderness though really?  It is a place where society and other people do not control our lives, or our thoughts, a place where the opinions and control of other people in our lives cannot touch us.  We can choose a wilderness of our own, sometimes in Gender Counseling and sometimes in our own holy places.  We find a way to ignore and shut out what others try to make us is to be, just as Jesus no longer gave heed to the world’s idea of what a Messiah should be. We can carry this out of the wilderness and no longer be controlled by the world.

Jesus was Transfigured in front of three of his disciples and showed His True Self and his destiny to them.  We too have a first time in front of our family and friends dressed as our preferred gender and doing the things that are part of our True Selves as well.  We can hear “You are my beloved child, in you I am well pleased” if we listen for it, but possibly the others will be deaf to that message though we may be filled with it’s peace 

For a time, we too must teach others about the true nature of what being Transgender is all about, the crippling Gender Dysphoria that is in it, and that it is not sexual deviance or anything to harm other people. Being out is a way we and our fellow Trans* will be the best we can be as loving neighbors and relatives.  Like Jesus, we too must show others where their blind obedience to what they think is God’s Law is in fact self-deception and a glance away from God’s true face.

At last our hour too will come when we will face our Transitions into our True Selves once and for all.  We cannot go back and live as the world wants us to, and yet we are afraid to go forward.  We have fear and know we face many types of pain, and all for what, we do not know.  We too are in a garden praying that some other alternative is there than what we know really will be there for us.  We too will then stand up and pronounce that “our hour is at hand”,  and face what we must do to fulfill our purpose in life.

Our false self that our families and friends and even our cities have known and seen will die as we come further into the world as authentic selves.  None of those sources will ever again direct our lives and create us in the image they “believe is right” and that they own.  Our resurrected self that is free of a body we felt trapped in will be the one they will now know and they will realize they are powerless over it.  Our new body is one that shows our spirit as God truly made it.  Ours of course will be in life for a time yet to come, but perhaps it is our purpose from God to show changes that can be made in all lives by accepting HIS will and design for us. 

Blessings and peace for a Holy Lent

 

[DeeDee]

Wow Vicky, thank you for sharing, I always get mildly irritated when I hear about people giving up things for lent like not being on FB for a month is a big deal when lent is not about removal but focus and self improvement.

 

42 minutes ago, VickySGV said:

We cannot go back and live as the world wants us to, and yet we are afraid to go forward.

This hit me hard because there is SO much truth in it.  It really does feel like being lost in a wilderness most of the time.

As Dee I keep being drawn to images of butterflies and I know it is because they are an example of transfiguration by design into something truly beautiful.

 

Thank you so much. ?