\nI wear my faith quietly,<\/p>\n
like a pebble in your pocket<\/p>\n
Smooth and cold,<\/p>\n
Comforting when you hold it tight in your hand.<\/p>\n
But to be more honest,<\/p>\n
I wear my faith secretly, cautious of who<\/p>\n
to tell the truth because<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure how my circle<\/p>\n
of liberal, leftists, almost<\/p>\n
socialists would take it.<\/p>\n
How could I, a feminist who uses reason,<\/p>\n
logic, and kindness, follow a church<\/p>\n
that doesn\u2019t let women be leaders?<\/p>\n
Follow a God<\/p>\n
who believes LGBTQ loved ones will rot in hell?<\/p>\n
follow an institution<\/p>\n
that rapes children?<\/p>\n
Stop.<\/p>\n
I want to tell them that<\/p>\n
that isn\u2019t my church, isn\u2019t my God.<\/p>\n
My God lives in jails and detention centers,<\/p>\n
in water bottles left in the desert,<\/p>\n
and school teachers who work too much for too little.<\/p>\n
My God is in parents who love their gay<\/p>\n
and trans kids as reflections<\/p>\n
of God\u2019s own image.<\/p>\n
My faith is the holiness of women, the life<\/p>\n
in service for others.<\/p>\n
My God is liberation.<\/p>\n She is the power of the storm<\/p>\n and the stillness of it when it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n She is Brown laborers<\/p>\n rebuilding a city,<\/p>\n and the sweat of their foreheads<\/p>\n feeding their families.<\/p>\n But how can they believe me? When<\/p>\n sometimes I don\u2019t even believe myself.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s time to be loud.<\/p>\n As loud as the annoying (and wrong) fetus<\/p>\n fanatics who are pro-life without<\/p>\n really being pro-living.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s time to let my faith breathe. Take<\/p>\n my pebble and let throw it<\/p>\n in the water.<\/p>\n Let it make ripples.<\/p>\n No.<\/p>\n Let it make a fucking tsunami.<\/p>\n p.s. \u00a0Maria is the Southeast Michigan regional organizer for We the People Michigan. She immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico when she was nine years old and grew up Southwest Detroit and Dearborn. Maria has been fighting for immigrant justice for almost a decade, including grassroots organizing and political advocacy. She works closely with grassroots organizations to create alternative systems of immigrant-centered support and working to put people of color and women in positions of leadership. Maria graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy with a degree in English, and then went on to get a Masters of Social Work at the University of Michigan. On her free time Maria likes going for hikes, drinking expensive tea, and after reading Maria\u2019s poem three or four times today, I came upon Karen Tumulty\u2019s Washington Post column, \u201cWhy am I still a Catholic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Friday, \u00a0August 6, 2019 Maria emailed this poem to the Poetry List in August 2018; \u00a0 I emailed back: this is a very strong poem; \u00a0I would be willing to publish it as \u201canonymous.\u201d \u00a0 Maria wrote me back; \u00a0 … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2018\/08\/SidewalkChalk.jpg\")
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