God, as I welcome in this new year, I think of all I have to be thankful for from this past one. I am thankful for my family and friends. I am thankful that I have a family that supports me in all I do, that loves me and trusts me. I am thankful for new memories with old friends, and the chance to make new ones. I am thankful for the opportunity to make friends with different life experiences from my own, and the chance to experience life together for a short while. I am thankful for the strength you gave me to get through the hard times, oh God. The strength to stay up all those hours writing my thesis, and to not let it drive me insane (well, any more than I already am). For the strength to keep going even when the future was uncertain and bleak. For the strength to say “see you later” to those I love. For strength when I've felt alone and lost in this new place and culture. And from the bottom of my heart I thank you God for the opportunity to see and experience all the new places that I have.
But, God, these opportunities make me also cry out to you. As we read of the angels proclaiming “peace on earth,” I cry out to you to make it true, oh God. I look around me, and at everything I've done and seen this past year, and I do not see this peace you have called for. I see young people shooting each other on the streets of Philadelphia and other cities across the US. I see children dying in school shootings. I see women and children being injured, killed, and mentally scared from abuse received in their homes. I see women being blamed for the fact that they were harassed, assaulted, and raped while the perpetrators suffer no consequences from their illegal and immoral actions. I see women and people of color struggling to make it in a world that is structurally biased against them. I see young Black and Latino men getting targeted by the police just for being young and of color. I see Middle Eastern and Arab men being consistently targeted by security officials, just for their race and heritage. I see children who are unable to go to school or play because of violence in their communities. I see children and adults being harmed by addiction and violence. I see women being forced into human trafficking and made to think that that is their rightful place. I see families having to flee their homes, their towns, and even their countries because of war and violence. I see children who will never know life without PTSD, and adults who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with it as well. I see people who don't feel safe in their own communities, because of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, or religion. I see people having to go through check point after check point with armed guards and intense questioning, just to get to the next town over or even to go pray at their place of worship. I see people being denied access to their ancestral homes that they still think of as their own. I see governments invading the space and the lives of others whom they promised to leave alone. I see countries spreading their power and influence for their own gain without any mind to the negative effects it brings. I see people dying needlessly, from war and lack of access to medical care or food or water in a world where violence is unnecessary and there is enough food and medicine that no one should be lacking. I see a world where people have lost the ability to imagine the end to violent conflicts and occupations.
God, I cry out for your peace. I cry out for a peace that does not simply end violence, but one that enacts justice and mercy, that erases all structural violence and allows for equity and equality for all, one that allows everyone to live life to the fullest. I cry out, oh God, for you to give us your eyes. For the ability for everyone to see those they deem the other as an equal human being deserving of love and respect. I know that this will not come easily. I beg of you to give your strength to everyone to work for peace and social justice, and not just charity. I pray for the strength for your people to move forward even when the future seems bleak and the world unchangeable. I pray that you remind us that you have already called for peace on earth, and that to work for anything else is an act against you and all of your creation. I pray that we humans stop condemning each other for our differences but love each other knowing that we are in no place to judge.
God, I pray that this new year will be a time of steps forwards towards true, positive, peace. I pray that you give me the strength to always put that first in my vision, and that you impress it on the hearts of others and give them the courage to take steps towards a radical vision of peace.
In your holy name, I pray. Amen.
So beautiful.
ReplyDelete