Uplift: Uplifting LGBTQ+ Experience Within and Beyond Unitarian Universalism

Queer Prayer for Winter Nights

Candlelight

"As we gather in the darkness and the light let us give thanks and witness to our chosen families who we have traveled a lifetime to find."

By Jude Sylvan

As we gather in the darkness and the light

let us give thanks and witness to our chosen families

who we have traveled a lifetime to find.
We gather with our beloveds in living rooms, in churches, in kitchens,

in bars and in bedrooms, on Skype and on Twitter, at the theater,

in our memories, in our hopes, in the silence and the noise.

We witness and hold these families no matter their size -

families of one or one-thousand. Families of 90 years or of 90 minutes.

We rejoice in the opportunities to care for our beloveds,

to feed them, to listen to them, to share our spirits’ fears

and desires, and simply to share space with this

precious kin-dom, holy and sanctified as any bloodline.

We celebrate our shared time as Holy Days,

for every time we commune with our beloveds,

we make that time and space holy.

And for those who are alone, we wish hallowed solitude,

that they may feel love-of-self and love of the Mystery.

May those who spend these nights of Sacred Darkness

alone know they are important,

they are connected,

they are Divine.

We celebrate each Holy Day as we find them together.

May we be present in this time of darkness and light.

May we hold one another in the quiet, may we do

what we can to make sure everyone we love

is warm and full of food and hope and love.

May it be so!

About the Author

Jude Sylvan

Jude is a 2nd-year Mdiv candidate at Harvard Divinity School, and is currently a UUA Aspirant. Before pursuing their call to ministry, Jude found fulfillment and success as a writer, producer, performing artist, and teacher. Jude is the author of Kissing Oscar Wilde (2013 Write Bloody Publishing)...

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