This Week's Prayer

Dear Blessed Power that Persists and Sustains,

In the words of W.E.B. DuBois,

“The prayer of our souls is a petition for persistence; not for the one good deed, or single thought, but deed on deed, and thought on thought, until day calling unto day shall make a life worth living.”

Every day, let us be present. Every hour, let us remember those who suffer. Every minute, let us be people of compassion, ready to respond in love in the ways that we can.

This week we remember and hold in our hearts:

• The victims and families of Eastern Star cruise ship that capsized in the Yangtze River in China. More than 400 died.
• The victims and families of the petrol station fire in Accra, Ghana that killed 175.
• The millions of American government employees whose personal information was compromised in a massive data breach.
• The First Nations people of Canada. This week a Truth and Reconciliation Commission report found that rules that forced more than 150,000 First Nation children to attend state-funded church schools from the 19th century to the mid-1990s were responsible for cultural genocide by stripping children of their native culture, their identity, and their self-respect.
• All who have suffered because of the corruption in the FIFA organization.
• The women of North Carolina, whose reproductive freedom is reduced by the passage of a bill imposing abortion restrictions including a 72-hour waiting period.
• All whose thirst for justice and respect was disappointed by the exoneration of two Los Angeles police officers who fatally shot Ezell Ford, a 25-year-old mentally ill black man killed last August.

Let our sadness inspire compassion and commitment.

We also remember this week:

• Caitlyn Jenner, decathlon Olympic gold medalist as Bruce Jenner. Her debut as a woman has helped increase awareness of transgendering.
• Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, Guam’s chief federal judge who struck down the island’s ban on same-sex marriage.
• Harriet Thompson, who at age 92, became the oldest woman ever to finish a marathon.

Let these triumphs inspire us to keep on, unflagging in our efforts to build beloved community, “deed on deed, and thought on thought, until day calling unto day shall make" our lives worthy.