I pray also for the Guiding Light Islamic Center in Louisville. The youth of our church visited today, and were greeted with incredible hospitality and kindness. They taught my kids about Islam and fed them delicious food.29
January 30, 2017
I pray for courage and protection for all of those who resist. Tonight, that includes the thousands of people who rallied in Louisville. I pray guidance and resilience for the young ones who carried signs saying “Dumbledore’s Army.” I pray strength for the elders using walkers in the crowd. I pray joy for the Muslim family laughing as they all tried to fit in a selfie. I pray welcome for the people from all over the world who sang the national anthem, claiming a beautiful vision of America as the truth that will yet be. I pray stamina for the civic and religious leaders—Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and more—who call us to our better angels. And for the teenage African-American boy who thanked me for coming out tonight, I pray that he be surrounded by so much active work for justice, so much engagement and care by people outside his family, that he someday expects old white ladies to be on the street.30
January 31, 2017
This evening I am praying for the Black Lives Matter activists who brought the venerable American tradition of protest into the forefront of our collective imagination. Labor unions and peacemakers and others have kept the tradition alive, but the BLM activists taught a new generation, and reminded some of the rest of us, how to stand up together. When news of this Muslim ban came out, people all over the country made signs and went to the nearest international airport. We knew what to do. We know what this looks like, because we have had such fine exemplars these past few years. Many of those activists have paid—and continue to pay—a heavy price for their work for justice. Tonight I pray help comes at every crossroad, support on every difficult day, concrete assistance in times of need, and a hedge against the evil that always pushes against true courage. I pray they are each surrounded by steadfast companions on this journey, and that joy rises of its own accord.31
February 1, 2017
Tonight I give thanks for rigorous historians who offer us facts, perspective, and a sense of how different scenarios have unfolded in the past. Historians teach us about great figures from other centuries, models of courage and fierce intelligence to emulate in our own lives. They also teach us about danger signs and patterns of predictable misuse of power.
I pray stamina for every historian who spends long hours in the library, persistence for the scholars who check the sources carefully, encouragement for young history buffs who are told this isn’t a good career path, and patience for those stalwart teachers who strive to hand the wisdom of the ages to students unconvinced of its value. I pray for the non-professional historians—the grandparents, uncles and aunts, and elders of the community who remember the communal story. Here I think especially of Jewish friends whose remembrance of the Shoah compels them to work for justice in Palestine and in America. I think also of families whose grandparents immigrated to the U.S. years ago. The community no longer thinks that this is an immigrant family. But the family remembers the experiences that lead them to flee, the long struggle to get here, the fear and hunger and insecurity. I pray that these historians tell their stories loud and clear. Dear God, please bless me with a history-loving spirit. Bless those who do this noble work. Amen.
February 2, 2017
I ask God to bless those people—over 1,000—who signed the State Department dissent cable. DT makes it a point of pride to harm those whom he perceives to have slighted him in some way. These Foreign Service officers and other employees of the State Department are taking a stand that has significant risks. God, please smooth the paths before them, protect them from meanness, and give them perseverance in this tumultuous time.
I also thank God for the many people who have worked over the years to make the Boy Scouts of America more inclusive. That must have looked like a hopeless battle at many points. Yet people kept pressing, and now transgender boys can join the Boy Scouts. I do not know the names of the people who made this happen, bit by bit, but God does. May they always be greeted with the welcome they worked to extend to others.32
February 3, 2017
I thank God for humor tonight, and pray God’s blessing on every comedian and satirist who is resisting with wit and laughter. Like parents passing out snacks and juice to exhausted children, they give us a bit of sustenance and cajole us back onto the field of play.
When it seems like staying sane and being politically engaged are mutually exclusive choices, humorists demonstrate that this is a false dichotomy. We can be sane, informed, and engaged, but it requires levity.
God, these people offer their light to the rest of us. Grant them deep wellsprings of humor, pleasure, and joy. To every subversive late night host, every funny writer who takes aim at injustice, and every soul who adds to the restorative resistance of hashtag humor about Bowling Green and updates about the current whereabouts of Frederick Douglass, please bring energy and inspiration. Laughter is an antidote to fear. May we fear no evil. Amen.33
February 4, 2017
I pray for all the lawyers who are working on behalf of vulnerable populations. The legal system in the U.S. is terribly flawed, but it also marks our aspirations for justice and equity. Many lawyers enter the field to uphold these values and spend their days pursuing them. God, please grant stamina and energy to these servants of the public good. Help them to be clear-headed, quick-thinking, and creative in their use of legal measures to protect our society’s highest goals. Guide those who are judges with your spirit of compassion and your relentless grace.
February 5, 2017
Holy God, I am bewildered. I keep blinking at the screens that show large companies declaring their support for immigrants, refugees, and the value of inclusivity. I am unaccustomed to the idea that multinational brands could take moral leadership. Questions come: Yes, but how do they treat their workers? Yes, but what is their impact on the environment? Yes, but are they just trying to manipulate our emotions for financial gain?
As the questions bounce around, I sense an underlying swell of gratitude. Thank you, God, for the businesswomen and men who are choosing to use their public platforms to affirm the noble values to which our society aspires. Justice. Fairness. The strength of difference in unity. They are, in some small way, reminding us who we say we are, and holding us accountable to that standard. The questions that come to me are valid and important, insofar as they are used to hold these businesses accountable, too. Forgive me, God, when I lose sight of that, and let my critical inquiry become a test of purity. Because rejecting tests of imagined purity—of any kind—is central to the work of justice. I give thanks for help from unexpected places, and I ask God to bless the people of 84 Lumber, Ben and Jerry’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Nike, Budweiser, and every other company resisting hate and supporting welcome. Grant them each a double measure of courage and creativity, and may their examples stir the hearts of other business professionals. Let them not grow weary in this work. Amen.34
February 7, 2017
I pray God’s peace upon John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, who has stated that someone who embraces racism and sexism should not be invited to address parliament. I don’t know anything about this man except this: he is refusing to acquiesce. He is resisting the temptation to pretend things are normal, or to normalize them with pomp and ceremony. God grant him a steadfast spirit, a loud voice, and increasing company.35
February 8, 2017
Faithful and steadfast God, please bless every person who persists in talking about the sin of racism that plagues us. In our broken state, we are eager to be deceived, and so we willingly accept nonsense. We imagine that speaking about racism is impolite, and thereby allow racism to flourish.
Thank you, God, that Coretta Scott King persisted in speaking and writing about racism, using her voice and pen to tell the truth and shame the devil.
I ask that