Kevin starts the morning with the creation of man, God’s instructions for how man is to live, and prayer for transformative action led by faith.
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
by David Swanson
by Fran Pratt
Wake Up
God, we are gradually waking up
To the knowledge of our deep and hidden sins;
Most particularly, to the sin of racism
Which has affected our culture, psyche, and practice.
We thought we could say, “Ohm those racist generations have passed on.
The civil rights movement already happened.”
We thought we had leveled the playing field.
We thought we could ignore Whiteness.
We thought we didn’t have to see color.
But we know that we have more work to do,
To cleanse, heal and establish justice.
We quit before the work was finished.
We were wrong.
Help us see what we couldn’t see before.
Help us to examine everything.
Every custom and system,
Every group dynamic and assumption,
To leave no stone unturned in our mission
To rout out injustice;
To take every thought captive
To the loving ethic of Christ.
This work is messy.
We feel sensitive about it.
We feel overwhelmed and ashamed.
Help us not to minimize or shirk,
Nor capitulate to our fragile egos,
Nor be blinded by our privilege.
Give us robust hearts,
Willing to take an unflinching look at the racism within us.
And as we sift through our habits, culture and customs,
Examining then with a new sensitivity to injustice,
Help us to embody hope,
Peacemaking,
Restoration,
And above all, love for our neighbors.
Make us aligned to the Community of Heaven,
Diligently working for liberation.
Amen.
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Work to do
God, forces are at work in our world,
Which are at odds with your goals:
Death and destruction,
Injustice and abuse,
Apathy and self-centeredness,
Violence and hatred,
Status quo and inertia,
Distraction and disregard.
Evil is being revealed,
And hidden sins brought to light.
But ahead we can see,
Your kingdom coming,
Your people awakening,
Your glory shining.
We can see how today’s messy revealing
Is tomorrow’s fertile soil.
So we trust,
And we follow,
And we stay awake,
And we keep watch.
And we don’t shirk our work,
And we don’t deny our complicity,
And we don’t disempower the prophets,
And we don’t silence the marginalized.
And we don’t surround ourselves with so much noise that we can’t hear your voice.
And we don’t allow ourselves to despair.
We beat our swords into ploughshares.
We set our tables and open our doors.
We make way for the Community of God.
We prepare the way for the Lord.
Help us humbly accept all the change that must happen,
In our society and in our own hearts,
To work together for new life and for good,
And to walk the peaceful way of Christ. Amen.
