He rubs at his head. “I am sorry, though. None of this is fair. And this is something you’re going to have to live with. I’m glad you’re going to church with us, Jessup. I hope you can find some solace in Jesus. He’ll lift your burden, forgive your sins. If you go to Jesus with an open heart, you will be forgiven. Love, Jessup. Love heals everything, and you are going to have to carry the burden of what happened for the rest of your life, because the death of another human being—no matter whose fault it is, no matter what—is something that is a weight, but Jesus can help carry that weight. Jesus loves all of his children, knows that we are all sinners, and is willing to forgive us as long as we repent. Okay, son?”
This is one of those times when Jessup wishes there were other people around to see David John. If Deanne could witness this, if all of the politicians who called what happened with Ricky a hate crime, who blamed David John, if they could see this, maybe they’d see the David John that Jessup knows, because his stepfather’s face is open, kind. Jessup can see that David John’s heart is breaking, that he truly hurts for Jessup.
And yet . . . “How come . . .” Jessup says, “how come we go to church? Why the Blessed Church of the White America?” Jessup means, how can you tell me about love and belong to a church that preaches hate, how can you tell me that Jesus will take me in because he loves all his children but have those tattoos on your back?
But David John takes the question straight, isn’t thinking of anything deeper in the question: “We go to church to praise Jesus, and we go to the Blessed Church of the White America because that’s our home, our community. It’s family, and I don’t just mean because my brother is the one in the pulpit preaching the gospel. Church is about community as much as it is about Christ. You find people who are like you, who share your beliefs, and you form a family, and together you’re stronger than anything. Jesus holds you up, but being part of a church means there are other hands to help. You’ve got me, your mom, your sister, but you’ve got the church, too, to lift you up.”