Category: Awakening

Blessed Are You…

11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  [1]

This past week, millions in our nation and worldwide witnessed the ceremonies and funeral of Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States. After lying in state in the nation’s capital, Carter’s funeral service took place at the Washington National Cathedral, the second-largest church building in the United States. Every pew in that capacious sanctuary, which seats 4,000 people, was filled.

Born and raised in Plains, Georgia, Carter came from unassuming roots, spending his childhood and teen years working on his father’s farm.  Yet he was an archetype of a statesman in countless other ways.  A man of unwavering faith, Carter was a conciliator of peace between Israel and Egypt, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, a champion of civil rights and the environment, a humanitarian dedicated to disease eradication and prevention, a promoter of democracy, a fervent supporter and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, and founder of the Carter Center. 

Ironically, Carter weathered intense criticism during his lifetime, if not downright ridicule.     Scoffed at as naive, condemned as a failure as leader and President, and chided for seeking dialogue rather than resorting to war, Carter knew firsthand the scorn of public humiliation and contempt by others, particularly those involved in state affairs.   Brushed off as a mere ‘peanut farmer’ and dubbed a ‘weirdo’ when remaining true to his faith, Carter’s legacy was to continue living into the Gospel even when it was disadvantageous to do so. 

When we hear Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world,” we must remember that these verses were offered in the context of far more difficult ones.   These essential sentences undergird the price of being as salt and light.   ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Prayer: Divine Maker, in this time of gathering darkness, when your creation burns to the ground, and mass deportation looms; in this time of rising anxiety, when a convicted felon will assume the highest in the land, and children are callously sacrificed as the price of war, forgive us, we pray for forfeiting what you alone lovingly created and hence called good.    Kindle within us a renewing of your Spirit so that we may heed Christ’s summons once more.   So even when the good we do is misunderstood or ridiculed, remind us that as bearers of light and the salt of the earth, You have blessed us beyond measure in your realm of peace.  We ask this in all the holy names of God. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Election Day Prayer

“Our origins are written in the stars,
the remnants of ancient supernovae that once lit up the night sky.”
 

Years ago, when camping with my parents in Wyoming, my father asked me to accompany him to see the stars one evening.   Having grown up within the sprawl of Los Angeles in Southern California, I reluctantly tagged along. At best, I might see the dull glow from a solitary star or two.

But when my father led me beyond the campground’s perimeter, I was abruptly overcome by a vision that remains some fifty years later.  As I looked upwards, the night sky’s brilliance suddenly lept before and far from me.   I gasped in amazement, seeing the Milky Way as it stretched across the heavens for the first time.   The night sky’s bluest of blues was dazzling, punctuated by shades of purple, fuchsia, and coral hues.  

But that fateful night, it was the stars that held my imagination.  

Sovereign God of All Creation: On this election day, when palpable uncertainty and the fear of violence hems in from every side, where false claims of victory and disinformation threaten to hijack the vote, and mayhem is poised to breach our cherished institutions and sully whatever integrity remains: remind us again and again, that our origins emerged not from the fear that distorts our vision, but from the stars themselves.  

So, let us seize our birthright, Divine Maker, not with notions of grandiosity but from the surety that comes in knowing that You alone, O God, are our Creator and Keeper.   So that today and in the days to come, may our eyes be focused on the horizon before us, knowing that your fierce love and power will always lead the way.   We ask this in all the holy names of God.  Amen.

[1] Origins by Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist and author

 
 

 

An Icon of American Defiance

These are dark, if not dangerous, times. Aside from questions concerning our current president’s ability to win this year’s election and yet another disastrous Supreme Court ruling, last Saturday’s violence at a campaign rally compounded the assault on our senses and sensibilities. There is this sense of foreboding and displacement with a mere hundred-plus days remaining before November’s election. What will become of us?

Then, just last evening,  I discovered a historical icon recalling another dark and dangerous time. Situated on the side of a brick building in Cambridge, Maryland, near where she was born, the mural depicts Harriet Tubman reaching out her hand, offering a pathway to freedom despite the treacherous journey ahead.  In contrast to the image of Trump’s bloodied fist raised in defiance following last Saturday’s attack, Tubman’s hand is outstretched in a gesture of solidarity for the road forward.  Writes author and commentator Diana Butler Bass when gazing upon this image:

“This is an icon of American defiance. Harriet’s hand is reaching toward me, breaking through the wall of division and pulling me into freedom — as if offering herself as a guide through the woods and waters of despair: Brutality, enslavement, violence, imprisonment, and death. She defied them all. To lead others — to lead us all — to freedom. This is an invitation: Follow me.

To be honest, hers was a fight, too. And Harriet knew it, ‘I prayed to God to make me strong and able to fight, and that’s what I’ve always prayed for ever since,’ Harriet is to have said.   Yet Follow me is defiant. If you follow the right way, it can lead to conflict. I think Jesus knew that. I’m pretty sure Harriet Tubman knew that Jesus knew that.” [1] & [2]

Prayer:  Divine One and Source of All Compassion, when recoiling from the assault of all that we hold dear, still, You ask us to Follow You, despite our fear and trepidation.   For Your Liberty is NOT grounded in justifying capitalism’s violence over ecological, social, and racial justice.  Nor does Your Expansive Freedom grant license to ignore the cries of the poor, the hungry, and the dispossessed.  So in your mercy, Gracious and Benevolent Maker, instill Your Holy Defiance within us.   So that as Your Followers, we will seek Your Liberty and Wholeness for all of God’s children and this planet we call home. We ask this in all the Holy Names of God. Amen.

[1] Artist, Michael Risoato, Harriet Tubman Mural

[2]  An Icon of Defiance, Diana Butler Bass, from The Cottage, July 14, 2024

 

 

Rouse Yourself, O Sleeper!

“Why wait for your awakening?
Do you value reasons for staying small more than the light shining through the open door? Forgive yourself…now is the only time you have to be whole.
Now is the sole moment that exists to live in the light of your true nature.
Perfection is not a prerequisite for anything but pain.  So, please, oh please, don’t continue to believe in your stories of deficiency and failure.
This is the day of your awakening.”
Danna Faulds

Rouse yourself, O Sleeper! Please, oh please, don’t fall back back into a dreamless slumber. You have all that you need to stand tall, even now. So do not be afraid. However uncertain the times may be, this day is yours.

Perfection is not a prerequisite. Nor will you be redeemed by it. Step away from the self-defeating narrative you tell yourself. It is not valid, nor was it ever. So, don’t go believing in something that, out of fear, kept you small, unseen, and unthreatening.

Instead, I ask you, that part of me that earnestly desires to awaken, to open your eyes, push back the covers, and step into the light of day. So take heart, my truest and best self. Now is the day of your awakening.

Prayer: Ancient of Days, who fashioned us for more than we could ever hope for or imagine, awaken us, we pray. Prompted by your divine initiative, may our eyes be opened to the possibilities before us, for we are nothing less than the marvelous embodiment of your unfathomable love. We ask this in all the holy names of God. Amen.