Member-only story
Fiction
I met Jesus at Pride
An unexpected encounter
I went to Pride for the first time the other day. I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was in a major city, so there were large crowds of people in the parade. There were people with painted faces, rainbow flags on their cheeks. One man’s entire face was a rainbow flag. Then there were the actual flags. Hundreds of them waved by laughing, smiling folk.
The air hummed with joy.
On the edges of the joyful crowd, a small group grumbled their protest. “God loves you, but wants you to change,” one sign read. Another read, “Repent! Turn to Christ!”
Such a shame to see during this celebration of life. I turned away from them and met the eye of another man. He walked alone among the crowds, his smile showing slightly wonky teeth. His hair was black and his skin was brown. He sported a beard and long hair. “Jesus is here,” I chuckled to myself.
I waved and walked up to him.
“Hi,” I said, feeling slightly awkward, but wanting to be friendly.
“Hey,” he replied, putting his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a brown jacket, white t-shirt and jeans. He looked pretty good, despite the wonky teeth. I felt comfortable with him immediately, perhaps because my awkwardness seemed to be mirrored by…
