Wonderfully Made

... you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb ... I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful ... (Psalm 139:13-14)

Sometimes, the world is just cruel. That was the reality for Archie Bloom, a 19-year-old boy, the main character in the episode "Ruby Slippers" of The Mentalist series. At age six, he lost his mother.

"My son was a victim his whole life," said Archie's father. "He was the target of troublemakers."

Turned out, at home, when Archie was in high school, his father chained him to his desk in attempt to "toughen him up". Then, his father throwed him out when he declared that college wasn't his thing. His father was ashamed of him.

At work, a homophobic coworker bullied him constantly.

Having been rejected by his father, Archie accepted when an older male took him in. But, their relationship was also abusive. The man was a predator and drug user. Through it all, Archie faced a world that refused to show him the kindness he deserved.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you (Psalm 139:11-12)

Archie wanted to live and pursue his dream. God didn't abandon him; instead, He sent people, women and men, who kind-hearted and sincere. Some of the men were just as "different" as he was. They helped him find a "home", a drag queen cabaret, where he could celebrate his uniqueness alongside them, embracing his new life as Fifi Nix--a phoenix risen from the ashes, singing...