Sacred Space: Recent Episodes
Rev. Dr. Baranda J. Fermin
Today we pray for the spiritual leader that give counsel and covering to our political leaders. May they have the courage and wisdom to proclaim to political leaders seeking their guidance that’s it is indeed God’s will that liberty and justice be a part of the daily life each and every one of us lives. May the hearts and decisions of our policymakers reflect the belief that we all deserve equitable freedom as divine beings made in God’s.
Today as we Sabbath and pray we remember the sitting work of those in Greensboro, NC on Feb. 5th, 1960. We share gratitude for the fact that our light shines because of our mere being. We acknowledge that in being together, collectively, even in our sitting and resting we are rising in partnership with God. Our obedience to the demand and need to rest is a powerful act of faith. So we sit...still.
Today we pray that our leaders have the strength and humility to dismantle the obstructions to justice and equity they encounter in their work every day. We the people know that once these obstacles have been removed the ideas and solutions that will bring decarceration, food security, housing stability, health access and economic equity to all will bubble up from the hearts of the American people. If our political leaders would dismantle the obstacles to democracy the solutions our communities already employ to circumvent the inequity and injustice of the system would deliver the solutions this country needs.
Our current pandemic has highlighted the lack of care this nation has had for those our economic and environmental policies makes the most vulnerable to health issues. Our national focus on distributing as many vaccines as possible has exacerbated the inequalities in access to existing health solutions that often go to the most privileged first even with the best intentions by political leaders. Today we pray that access to and equity in care within our health system is as much of a priority as distribution.
Today we pray our country’s leaders have the humility and wisdom to repair the relationship we have to and with the indigenous communities we have dismissed and exploited as a nation since before its inception. The wisdom and foresight to heal our environmental, economic and political divides lie within repairing this relationship and putting ourselves in right relationship with indigenous communities. (There is some background noise in this one that was a bit distracting to even me - LOL)
Today we pray for Holy agitation, for just imagination, and revolutionary equity within the negotiations, resolutions, and conversations happening amongst our policy leaders and this U.S. administration. Though some may applaud the seeming normalcy and regularity returning to the White House, a return to normal and business as usual will be harmful to our environment and deadly to our communities. A return to Normal in our U.S. politics leaves every single person in the U.S vulnerable and unsafe.
Today we pray that even though the applause from the people has stopped and the votes are counted, that this administration doesn’t stop LISTENING to the will of the people.
Today we pray that the awareness of our demands for an equitable and just system of health and care in this country bring the appropriate and deserved RESPONSE(ability) from this administration and its appointed officials.
On this Sabbath day we offer a prayer of stillness, based on the 46th Psalm, that births in us a powerful knowing and deep strength for the journey our life work presents us.
Today we pray that the storytellers and the storymakers come together. In the policy world there may be a gap between what when we know a problem exists, when we create the solution and when that solution is implemented. However, in community, in the closeness of God and each other, we already have the answers to inequity and injustice. So may the narrators of today’s news and tomorrow’s history be in community with those closest to the pains of our current injustices and inequities to hear of how we are already filling in the gaps with grace, peace and authentic wholeness.
Today we hold close those that feel every pinch and bump along the journey through inequitable systems. May our communities continue to hold us, encourage us, and support us as we engage this administration in conversations to shape policy and reshape the policy agenda for radical equity. May our representative leaders at every level in the U.S. deconstruct these inequitable systems; and, may we the people use our power to construct that which we know will bring liberty for all.
Today we come with so much gratitude for the new leaders of Homeland Security and Treasury that have been sworn in. Previously harmful exclusion in our military and the inhuman functioning of for-profit prisons have been overturned in these first eight days. We pray and hope that these victories encourage us to bravely push and continue the policy conversations that will completely disconnect our economic system from our prison and immigration detention centers.
Today celebrate and give thanks for changes in policy that increase those who have access to the freedoms many in this country experience. We also challenge this administration to understand that access to freedoms is not liberation and full equity. As some of our most vulnerable siblings are able to leave sanctuary today we pray their neighbors are brave enough to protect them and that their communities are strong enough to support them as they share their own stories to bring powerful change.
Today we recall that justice and creation are siblings. We pray for bold imaginations and brave hearts to dream big. In order to be a part of the conversation this administration and our policymakers are currently having about our lives we must find any means available to publicize the deepest desires of our communities for justice and equity. You can learn more about the collective of Philadelphia artists and see the First 100 days posters at Mural Arts Philadelphia
Today we pray that halting deportations and protecting access to vaccines are considered the least and not the greatest of accomplishments we owe ALL living in our nation.
Rest is NOT resistance, yet it is a necessary part of the work. Today on my Sabbath, we practice restoration and resistance, as we pray for transition that transforms. I offer the payer of lovingkindnesses, or the traditional Metta prayer. This administration must know that we come in peace, we wish them well, AND we will never stop our work for justice and equity
Today we pray for this administration to prioritize right relationship with Mother Earth and all life forms. Our environmental agenda has contributed to food and housing insecurity. We ask God for the energy to set this right as a country and adjust our economic and environmental policies to support life above financial livelihoods.
Today we hold space for the tension that emerges as peace demands justice. We ask God in these times to protect us from an arrogance that would obscure accountability.
Let's collaborate with God and pray that the hope we feel on the cusp of a new administration brings us liberty, justice, and equity for all, simply the comfort of change.