Crying to “Pink Pony Club”

I once heard someone (I don’t know who) talk about the idea of “thin places.”

Those moments where you get a little glimpse of heaven, and the sacred shines through. If you’ve seen the movie Annihilation, I imagine the places to look The Shimmer (if you haven’t seen Annihilation, you should. Immediately.)

Last week, I saw one of those places.

I was at a summer camp with a whole bunch of teenagers in the mountains here in Oregon. It’s a progressive camp, fully LGBTQ+ affirming, fully inclusive, and one of my favorite weeks of the year.

2 of the campers got up one night at campfire to sing a song. We didn’t know what they were singing, but when the opening piano riff to Pink Pony Club came on, tears immediately started forming in my eyes.

As they timidly made their way through the verse, the chorus came and the entire camp launched into song and I swear that moment was more holy than most church services I’ve attended.

Nearly 80 teenagers, belting out a song about love, acceptance, belonging, and being fully who they are, at a camp where they know they are fully loved, held, seen, and affirmed.

It was beautiful.

Because for a lot of them, camp is their Pink Pony Club.

It’s the only place they feel like they can be themselves. They can let their guards down. Drop their defenses. Take off their masks. Be who they truly are, knowing that they will be seen, loved, accepted, valued, cherished, and validated.

So until we live in a world where those kids don’t ever feel like they have to hide who they are, we’ll keep showing in their lives.

Just like Jesus would.

On the stage in their heels.

It’s where they belong.