Blessed Are We

Andrea Hawkins-Kamper

Blessed are we who gather with open hearts, together, in this space, today.
Blessed are we: the chalice-lighters of resistance, justice, love, and faith.
Blessed are we: the heretics, the outcasts, the walkers of our own way.
Blessed are we: the border-crossers, the refugees, the immigrants, the poor, the wanders who are not lost.
Blessed are we: the transgressors, the trespassers, the passers-by, the cause-takers, the defiant, the compliant.
Blessed are we: the hand-extenders, the sign-makers, the protestors, the protectors.
Blessed are we: the trans women, the trans men, the non-binary, the cisgender, the multigender, the no gender.
Blessed are we: the friend, the stranger, the lonely, the hidden, the visible, the authentic.
Blessed are we who rise in solidarity, blessed are we who cannot, blessed are we who do not.
Blessed are we for this is our Beloved Community, and this is who we are.

In a somewhat crowded church or community center, two middle-aged men lean over a chair to embrace one another. One has greying hair and is wearing a light blue short-sleeve shirt, and one has black hair and is wearing an olive-green short-sleeve shirt.a line of people, of all ages, facing the camera and holding hands, across the intersection of an empty city street