For the last 6 Sundays of Lent, RfA board members and RCA chaplains have reflected on the implications of the "I am" statements from the Gospel of John. During Holy Week, we've asked queer RCA folks to respond to each of those "I am" statements in a series of daily postings.

For example, what does it mean to you to hear "I am the light of the world" if you're in the closet or in a place of emotional darkness?

Today, we receive a response to "I am the bread of life."

When I was first out on my own, I was hungry in every sense of the word. Stubbornly determined on independence, I didn’t know what I believed. In college there was a dining hall and a chosen family who made dinner together at least once a week. Now, degree in hand, I used what little money I had from work study jobs to head west, looking for my life.

I lost my beloved grandmother and had an engagement broken just days before graduation, which took my residence, a job offer and a particularly wonderful cat out of my life overnight. I didn’t understand how or why God could tear down the future I had built to rubble on the ground. I soon found myself sleeping on the floor of an apartment in Albuquerque, with $5 left and a box of Cheerios and a jar of peanut butter to subsist on.

While I looked for work, I found something else first: the Metropolitan Community Church of Albuquerque. When I first entered the doors to that rainbow lined sanctuary, I found a welcoming, affirming community. That first Sunday, we sang ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’ and the reminder that this was a season of life that would pass brought me peace. After worship that week, there was a lunch in their fellowship hall that I was enthusiastically welcomed to join, and my body and soul were fed. I knew then that God was bringing me through all along.

Prayer: God, may we create and help others find the places we can come to you to be fed. Thank you for the affirming communities where your love and care is shown to all. Amen.

Mitchel Leet is the Program Manager for Room for All. He resides in the Finger Lakes region of New York State with his wife, Cameron, and is passionate about rescuing dogs, local history, gardening, and art. As a pastor’s kid rooted in his trust in God’s unconditional love, Mitch seeks to draw the circle wide and strengthen connections through compassion.

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