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SERMON
May 1, 2006
"Prayer and Movement" by Rev. Alicia Roxanne Forde
First they came for the Jews
Then they came for the Communists
because I was
not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists because I
was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
-- Pastor Martin Niemöller
Prayer and Movement
75,000 people ~ a sea of mainly white shirts , chanting, walking, holding signs up against the sky that read things like: Please don’t take away my mom and dad away there were mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, babies in ball caps sitting in their strollers…taking their place in history alongside grandmothers and grandfathers.
On the steps of the capitol, a band is performing. I cannot hear them. A few feet away from me ~ a young man is rapping Freestyle through a megaphone. The small crowd gathered around him is swaying Clapping I feel the spirit, I feel the energy, I feel the hope Even though I cannot understand his words I feel his language…Si se puede: Yes, We Can.
I feel alternately at home and like a tourist as I move Through the crowd capturing – with my camera – movement This movement. This one. For Justice. Through the wide angle lens I see an expansive collection Of heads bobbing up and down, The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News buildings in the back drop I see the State Capitol building with peace full demonstrators At its door a line of police men and state officials At the very top Looking down – to protect and to serve To ensure justice For whom? I see a father holding his son his against his cheek. They are quiet together, listening. Taking their place In history. Together.
I see the Justice for Janitors gathered, beating rhythms on Plastic buckets It was with them that I first demonstrated back in The fall of 2000 – for a class. I walked by, lifting my camera… Viewing them through my lens, leaving the shutter untouched.
I crouch down in the street to capture the movement Of feet And what I see more of is children Tiny children, three, maybe four or five years old, carried Along by adults. Taking their place… Si se puede. Yes, We Can.
At home, I watch the news.
At home, on the news this is being called the largest day of demonstration of our time with at least 1.5 million people out on May 1st
At home, I learn that while some would have us believe that This act did not have an impact Many business in Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, Indiana, Florida…felt the loss of labor and business, One grocery store alone losing thousands Businesses closed…trucks not loaded, not moved Many felt the impact of children being out of school
At home, I learned that school officials were concerned that Students who are already struggling lost a valuable day Of instruction. How can they learn, would you be able to learn – if Threatened with the loss of your family unit? Under the constant pressure of xenophobia, racism, low wages, Unfair treatment in schools and in the work place?
//
I learn that one denomination is encouraging A different form of demonstration. Prayer.
//
New York Times, March 2006 released a story on the Scientific evidence of the power of prayer.
// I’ve been re-reading Kierkegaard lately. As a young person, filled with angst, with tremendous Fear and trembling at the possibility of life, I found myself drawn to the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard; he along with Camus provided the framework For my rejection of Christianity. Unlike Camus, Kierkegaard also provided Me with the philosophical framework to re-claim An understanding of Christianity, of God, that invited Me to leap and leap and leap again into the vast unknown.
It was comforting a few days ago to read again: Faith does not result simply from Scientific inquiry; It does not come directly at all… For whose sake is it that the proof is sought? Faith does not need it;…it must even regard the Proof as its enemy.1 And so, they – scientists, came to God with a test. And God failed. God failed to heal the sick. God failed to respond to the prayers offered up by Participants in a controlled experiment. As a matter of scientific fact, the sick got worse When they were prayed for.
Reading the article, I thought of the singer // musician Tori Amos: God sometimes you just don’t come through Do you need a woman to look after you… Cause, the evidence says, God just can’t do God’s job Very well. Assuming that God’s job is to listen and Respond to our every request, giving us exactly what we’ve Asked for, leaving no room for mystery – I mean that Would make God Santa Claus and then the notion of A female caretaker (or a Mrs. Claus or a Mrs. God) as proposed by Tori Amos, wouldn’t be so far fetched.
//
One denomination urged another form of engagement. Prayer Didn’t they get the latest news? Prayer Does not work, it only makes matters worse Shows no sign of benefit and you know, that’s the last thing We need right now. Can that be true? Faith does not need proof. It requires a leap. And attitude of si se puede. The intention of si se puede.
//
I didn’t march on May 1st, I had to be at work. At 11 a.m., I left work and drove down to the State Capitol building with a friend, both Of us in white shirts. I didn’t know how not to do this. I didn’t know how to stay at my desk I didn’t know how to make sense of not being present I only knew that even if it was for a few minutes, I had to be there… I had to be there, like someone was there for me In this America when every law Claimed that black citizens were in fact not citizens Not equal Not protected by laws Not promised justice Not free
I had to be there, like someone was there for me In this America when social dictates Claimed that women were in fact second class citizens Not equal Not protected by laws Not promised justice Not free
I had to be there, like someone was there for me In this America when law now Claims that Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer Identified citizens Are in fact Not equal Not protected by laws Not promised justice Not free
I had to be there, because my father came to this America And stayed illegally…he was fortunate that his journey Did not include crossing the desert, paying large sums of money To “coyotes” – risking life, tasting death. He came, he stayed illegally, He worked, he paid taxes, he contributed to the economy
//
Hear me say, reform is needed Hear me also ask – if we do nothing If we say nothing If we build walls to keep out Hire guns to patrol borders Target and profile anyone who does not Look like, speak like… As we imprison undocumented immigrants If we penalize those who employ them
What will be next? Who will be next?
//
Si se puede – faith does not need proof.
Someone said to me recently Engaging in social transformation is Like running a marathon…takes a long time, Takes stamina, takes belief in self, takes belief in Something beyond self…it takes training…it takes Having some sense that you’re not in it alone…that Someone somewhere out there is urging you on, Holding you in positive space, dare I say: praying... Believing yes, it can be done And you can be the one to do it.
//
In 1962 Fannie Lou Hamer walked herself down To the courthouse in Indianola, Mississippi to register to vote. She and 18 others, and they were all arrested In 1964 she along with others registered 63,000 black people To vote… Hamer says: We have to build our own power 2 And our own power is your power, my power, the power of the people In our neighborhoods, our towns, our cities
In collecting those votes, they prayed. They sang They met in churches, they met in houses, they drew on the Strength of community and on the strength of something larger Than themselves: On the strength of a mystery that sustains the hum Of the Universe On the strength of a mystery that bends towards justice That isn’t some mystery, some omnipotent being That you pray or petition to But is something that you tune your heart and intentions with Giving yourself to the cause of liberation Bending your own being toward justice Giving yourself in what ever ways you are able to Ensure that every being is treated with respect Is equal Is protected under the laws that we make Is promised and receives justice and mercy Is free…
And we cannot waste time quantifying that kind of prayer There has to be room for faith We cannot waste time wondering if prayer works
If it didn’t we would not be here If it didn’t we – you and I – would still drink From different fountains If it didn’t our hands, hearts and minds would not Be needed
If it didn’t we need not bother gather together – for it Is in gathering with a common purpose: Honoring the inherent worth and dignity It is in gathering with a common dream Liberation and justice for all It is in gathering with respect for those who risked having Faith in the past – faith that there could actually be a just future That we now, must pray – with our whole selves, without ceasing For the promise of social transformation that includes Immigration justice and reform
Si se puede Yes Yes Yes, We Can.
At a certain point you say to the woods, to the sea, to the mountains, the world, Now I am ready. Now I will stop and be wholly attentive. You empty yourself and wait, listening. After a time you hear it: there is noth- ing there. There is nothing but those things only, those created objects, discrete, growing or holding, or sway- ing, being rained on or raining, held, flooding or ebbing, standing, or spread. You feel the world’s word as a tension, a hum, a single chorused note everywhere the same. This is it: this hum is the silence… The silence is all there is. It is the alpha and the omega. It is God’s brooding over the face of the wa- ters; it is the blended note of ten thousand things, the whine of wings. You take a step in the right direc- tion to pray to this silence, and even to address the prayer to “World.” Distinctions blur. Quit your tents. Prayer without ceasing.
~ Annie Dillard
1Truth is Subjectivity 2Eyes on the Prize by Juan Williams
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