Tag: healing

Testimony on Trans Ban in Youth Sports

On By Oby BallingerIn BlogLeave a comment

To the Education Policy Committee of the MN House of Representatives on February 19, 2025.

My name is Oby Ballinger, and I’m the founding organizer of Prism, a multiracial and multifaith network for LGBTQ equality in Minnesota. I’ve also served for fifteen years as a pastor in the United Church of Christ, leading congregations in Edina and near Cottage Grove. Every Sunday, worship in many UCC churches begins with the saying, “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” We believe that every person—of every race, class, gender, age, and identity—is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. In both churches I’ve served, I have ministered to transgender youth who want what everyone wants: to belong, learn, grow and play in supportive environments, and to participate as themselves without having to hide or deny who they are. This is why I oppose House File 12 and other such measures that declare “unwelcome” the transgender youth that God has called beloved and calls us to welcome.

On Monday night, I gathered here at the capitol with a hundred others in the bitter cold to grieve the shocking murder of the Black trans young adult Sam Nordquist, and keep vigil with his Minnesota family. We don’t know yet the full circumstances in his case, but we do know that beloved trans people like Sam are four times more likely than others to suffer from violent crime. Transgender youth are also at significantly increased risk of the mental health struggles that come from constant challenges to a person’s worth or belonging. Youth sports are one of the ways trans people can develop resilience and experience belonging, as well as learning, growing, and playing in supportive environments. Rather than addressing harms against them, this legislation adds to the bullying that many trans youth face on a daily basis, doubling down on the lie that there is something wrong with youth who practice integrity by living according to their God-given gender identity.

To repeat what the Holy Spirit tells the disciple Peter in the book of Acts: do not call “unclean” those whom God has called “clean”. Stop this unnecessary bill that adds to a climate of anti-trans discrimination, violates the image of God’s belovedness in every person, and heightens the likelihood of harm against the trans youth I know and love.

“Sonnet” (James Weldon Johnson)

On By Oby BallingerIn Wisdom from OthersLeave a comment

I learned this text for the first time this fall, as its been set to luscious music by Marques L. A. Garrett that we’re singing this weekend at the Saturday and Sunday concerts of Singers in Accord. What strikes me is the deeply humane and yet secular nature of these encouraging words. One needn’t be a person of faith to yearn for and hold tight to the promise that good can prevail over evil, and right over wrong. Consider these words, and how they sound as music for the soul (performed here by the Los Angeles Master Chorale).

My heart be brave, and do not falter so,   
Nor utter more that deep, despairing wail.   
Thy way is very dark and drear I know,   
But do not let thy strength and courage fail;   
For certain as the raven-winged night
Is followed by the bright and blushing morn,   
Thy coming morrow will be clear and bright;   
’Tis darkest when the night is furthest worn.   
Look up, and out, beyond, surrounding clouds,   
And do not in thine own gross darkness grope,   
Rise up, and casting off thy hind’ring shrouds,   
Cling thou to this, and ever inspiring hope:
   Tho’ thick the battle and tho’ fierce the fight,
   There is a power making for the right.

“When news is bad” (Steve Garnaas-Holmes)

On By Oby BallingerIn Wisdom from OthersLeave a comment

There are a thousand articles and social media posts from pundits and politicians trying to make sense of why the presidential election last week took the turn that it did, and positing the way forward. I’ve read a few of them, and no doubt will read more in the coming weeks. I’ve even written my own near-term reaction piece on Trump’s reelection. But I’ve found myself needing instead to first sit with grief that my neighbors in America have made such a bewildering choice, and to tend to the soul before attempting to diagnose society or chart a course to follow. Into this moment I’ve been grateful to discover this poem by the retired Methodist pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes. I’m not certain that it was written in the last week with the election in mind–it serves for any time when the news is bad and we need reminders of how to respond with our full humanity.

Take seriously your grief.
It is love, stripped bare.
Let it flow through you.

Trust that you are held.
We all are held by the Beloved,
the Broken-Hearted One,
the One who Suffers most Deeply.

Know you are not alone.
Millions bear your sorrow.
Ancestors and even unborn generations
walk with you gratefully.

Seek others who are tenderhearted.
Receive all the grace you can.
In the flesh is best, but even in spirit,
know we are here.

Trust the Goodness.
God has not given up on us.
Through every disaster grace remains.
Refuse to despair.

Choose courage over selfishness,
trust over fear, love over anger.
You do not know the end of grace.

There is much you cannot change,
but bring healing where you can.
We are not promised to be given light,
but to shine with light.

Don’t become an enemy of the world
and its brokenness. Stay tender.
Become a source of comfort and joy for others.
Let this purpose bear you through the darkness
and you yourself will become light.

Take courage; trust grace;
stay connected; practice love.

–Steve Garnaas-Holmes, unfoldinglight.net

Veteran’s Day Witness

On By Oby BallingerIn BlogLeave a comment

Every year on Veteran’s Day I think of my brother Ezra, who served among the Marines in Iraq and thankfully carries no bodily wounds from that war. I look at smiling pictures from his time in uniform and wonder about the many unpictured moments that he and other veterans carry inside. We have a sense from news coverage of Ukraine and Gaza of the terrible, ungodly cost of war, but what we see is only a fraction of what is done. What wounding have American veterans caused and witnessed? What wounds do they carry—within and without—from their time of service? How can a country express lifelong caring mercy to veterans and their families, while also committing our whole selves to the causes of peace?

Continue reading “Veteran’s Day Witness” →

Channel Anxiety into Action

On By Oby BallingerIn BlogLeave a comment

The public discourse (and discord) over tomorrow’s election results has reached a fever pitch. I have heard anxiety about what may or may not happen in most conversations over the past week. Even as I’ve been door-knocking and advocating for candidates in my personal capacity, I’m also feeling on tenterhooks about the future. Is anyone else finding it hard to plan for much of anything else beyond November 5th??

Continue reading “Channel Anxiety into Action” →

Healed

On By Oby BallingerIn SermonsLeave a comment

Forty years ago, in the mid-1980s, an unusual disease began spreading throughout the United States and elsewhere in the world. Its characteristic symptoms included flu-like illness, skin lesions, anemia, and a gradual weakening until eventual death. Because of the communities where it was most often found in early years, the disease was described as a “gay plague”, and it became the source of even greater stigma. It took years, and tens of thousands of deaths that nearly wiped out a whole generation of gay men, before President Ronald Reagan would even call it by name, “HIV and AIDS”. It took longer still for governmental research to commence on treatments, and while things are greatly improved now, we still have no cure or vaccine for HIV.

Continue reading “Healed” →