God of justice,
God for all people,
after my daily calls are made,
and my morning emails sent,
I pause to give thanks
for all in Minnesota,
and Albuquerque,
and Maine,
and places I do not know
who
mourn and weep,
pray and meditate,
organize and strategize,
march and walk,
cogitate and agitate,
disrupt and interrupt,
blow whistles and whistleblow,
boycott and purchase,
stand up and speak out,
demonstrate and advocate,
write and illustrate,
knit and paint,
draw and create,
sing and play,
resist and act in ways
beyond my limited understanding
and pale imagination
for a society, a country, a world
where everyone is welcome,
everyone is included,
everyone is loved,
diversity is cherished,
equity is achieved,
and justice flows
for each person.
Keep them safe.
Grant them strength.
Guide their feet.
Bless their efforts.
I pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen
Tag Archives: witness
A prayer in the time of ICE
Filed under Current Events, Human Rights, Prayer
Vigil
Caressed by the wind,
the flames dance
above the candles,
each flame to its own rhythm:
each flame representing
God’s beloved children,
gone too soon,
taken too suddenly
by hot metal speeding from a metal tube,
after a trigger was pulled.
Back pressed into the wall,
I sat vigil,
watching the dancing flames
in horror,
in pain,
in remembrance,
in silent witness.
No more could I do.
More is needed.
24 August 2024
Ghost Ranch
Abiquiu, New Mexico
Filed under Gun Violence, Human Rights, New Mexico, Poem
AdventWord 2022 – December 25 – #Emmanuel
Emmanuel. God with us. If God is with us, any photo would work to express Emmanuel. I chose several that show working for justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God by visiting elected representatives, advocating, making a public witness, and amplifying other voices.
Photo 1 – New York delegation at Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2019, Washington, DC.
Photo 2 – Advocacy postcards for immigration justice, Whitestone, NY – 2018
Photo 3 – Standing Rock, SD – 2016
Photo 4 – Whitestone, NY – 2015
Photo 5 – Louisville, Ky – May 1, 2021
AdventWord 2022 – November 28 #together
Women’s Day March
March, 2015
New York, New York
A prayer for Noble Road Presbyterian Church
Tricia and I served as co-pastors of Noble Road Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio from September 1985 through September 2000. There Eric was baptized, Sean and Eric joined the church, Sean and Eric were ordained as elders, and Eric was ordained as a minister of the word and sacrament.
After a prayerful process of discernment, the congregation made the faithful, courageous, and probably a bit painful, decision to sell the building. This week the sale of the building was approved by the Presbytery of the Western Reserve and the Heights Libraries Board of Trustees (the purchaser). The church is located next to the Noble Neighborhood branch of Heights Libraries. The purchase will allow Heights Libraries to expand the Noble branch building to broaden the services it offers to the surrounding community. It will allow the church building to continue to be used as a place where the community is served.
Because the church is not a building, the congregation will continue in ministry. The congregation is in the process of discerning what that ministry will look like. No doubt it will be faithful, creative, welcoming and including, and committed to justice.
A prayer for Noble Road Presbyterian Church
God of all places,
we thank you for your gift of the place
known as Noble Road Presbyterian Church.
We remember with gratitude
all who worshipped in the sanctuary,
all who provided music in any form,
all who affirmed faith at the font,
all who proclaimed the gospel in the pulpit,
all who received assurance at the table,
all who studied in the classrooms,
and all who went out with the support of the community
to witness and work for justice
in Cleveland Heights, Greater Cleveland, Ohio, the United States, and around your world.
For all whose lives were touched, blessed, enriched, challenged
by the people of Noble Road Presbyterian Church,
we give you thanks and praise.
Guide the congregation members as they
discern new ways to be a community, to worship, and to serve.
Lead the Heights Libraries as they repurpose the building
to continue to serve the Noble community and the world.
With thanks for what was,
some tears for what is,
and profound excitement for what will be,
we offer all praise to you, O God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
this prayer draws on some images from a prayer in the Book of Common Worship
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Current Events, Family, Friends
Call the witnesses
We gathered under the USS Maine Monument at the Merchants’ Gate entrance to Central Park on Columbus Circle.
We gathered to witness for peace and to say no to war with Iran and no to war everywhere. We gathered as did people on Foley Square in New York and in places around the country.
We chanted as we gathered. For a short time, the chant rang out “Call the witnesses.” The reference was to an impending trial in the Senate.
But consider calling …
… young people living in poverty who see no other option than military service …
… children who wonder when, and if, a parent will return …
… parents who grieve for a child killed in action …
… creation exploited and abused by preparation and perpetration of war …
… soldiers maimed in body, spirit, soul, and mind …
… noncombatants wounded and killed and dismissed as collateral damage …
… women harassed and violated …
… communities uprooted and driven from their homes …
… those denied educational opportunities and health care and food and water and housing and infrastructure because needed resources have been directed to preparing for and waging war …
… yes, there are witnesses.
Witnesses to the obscenity and futility of war.
Call them.
Hear them.
Heed them.
Filed under Current Events, Presbytery of New York City
#DMZpeacechain 3
April 28, 2019
The First Presbyterian Church of Whitestone makes a #DMZpeacechain witness for peace on a reunified Korean Peninsula in New York City.
Photo by Lisa Sisenwein.
#DMZpeacechain 2
April 27, 2019
The #DMZpeacechain event for peace on a reunified Korean Peninsula in New York City.
With the Rev. Won Tae Cho,
pastor of Woori Presbyterian Church and organizer of the witness.
Filed under Current Events, New York
#DMZpeacechain 1
April 27, 2019
The #DMZpeacechain event for peace on a reunified Korean Peninsula in New York City.
Photo by Peng Leong.
Filed under Current Events, New York
Along the Graybeard Trail 