By S. Leon LaCross
“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?” Luke 15:4
It’s easy to write this sheep off as sinful and in need of saving. However, I’m proposing that this sheep is brave. It takes a lot of courage to strike off on your own and do your own thing. As the Joel R. Workin Scholar, I’ve been identified as having a prophetic voice; but I don’t always hear it.
I fall into the trap of doubting myself, self-sabotaging and otherwise getting down on myself. I drift off from my community and feel like a pariah. But just when I think I’ve gone too far afield, when I’ve lost hope, when I start to get my wooly coat caught in the brambles, I’m found again.
I’m reminded that I have a flock of rainbow sheep that want me around. I bump into a queer colleague, sigh too deep for words, and appreciate each other’s struggle. I’m not alone out there.
To get intertextual, we are all in the wilderness, calling out…but we’re not making the roads straight. We’re skipping down the yellow brick road, over the rainbow, and into a brave new day, collecting friends along the way.
Good Shepherd, you tend every flock and gather in your forgotten sheep. Help us to be the shepherds searching for our siblings who have drifted away. Help us to be brave sheep, daring to forge new paths. Be with us in the wilderness and help us to hold space for those who have not yet found their flock. You rejoice with us as we are reunited with our kindred. Tend to us on our Lenten journey. Amen.
Bio: S. Leon LaCross (he/they) is a third year seminarian at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary pursuing a masters in Divinity with hopes to be ordained. His specific academic interests revolve around sex, sexuality, and gender as they intersect with theology. He is an adoring partner to his boyfriend, Noah (he/they), and a part time step-father for Noah’s cat Moxie (she/her) and dog Mr. Pickles (he/him). They enjoy cooking, gaming and gardening together as well as generally trying to become literally the gayest.