Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, for journalists who tell the truth, and for scientists who protect the data.26
January 26, 2017
Tonight I pray for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and every other mayor who is standing up for immigrants. I pray for Dan Rather and for whoever turned Teen Vogue into a political force for good. I pray for every single person calling their representatives. And for artists, of every stripe, who make us more human.27
January 27, 2017
I pray strength and inspiration for every writer who is shaping words to resist hate and cultivate compassion, in tweets, FB posts, essays, op-eds, newsletters, blog posts, books, and every other format and genre. I pray for the preachers who are writing sermons that emphasize the consistent biblical mandate to care for refugees. Writing mercies to you all.
January 28, 2017
I pray tonight for all the people who went to airports to protest DT’s despicable action, for the taxi drivers who stopped picking up passengers at JFK, for the ACLU, for Judge Ann M. Donnelly, and for all those who participated in local actions to reject discrimination. I pray that God blesses you and adds the strength and power of the Holy Spirit to your efforts.28
January 29, 2017
Throughout the day I pray for those in need of protection, healing, justice, and strength. In the evening, I focus on what I am thankful for, and I lift up those people and communities who work for justice and resist hate.
Tonight I am in awe of the continuing protests around the country, and so many friends who are standing with immigrants and refugees. You are amazing. I praise God for your witness.
I pray tonight for Guilford College, my beloved alma mater, which started the #everycampusarefuge program. God bless the people there who are working so hard right now. And I pray for every other school that is rejecting and resisting this Muslim ban. This is important teaching!
I pray also for the Guiding Light Islamic Center in Louisville. The youth of our church visited today, and were greeted with incredible hospitality and kindness. They taught my kids about Islam and fed them delicious food.29
January 30, 2017
I pray for courage and protection for all of those who resist. Tonight, that includes the thousands of people who rallied in Louisville. I pray guidance and resilience for the young ones who carried signs saying “Dumbledore’s Army.” I pray strength for the elders using walkers in the crowd. I pray joy for the Muslim family laughing as they all tried to fit in a selfie. I pray welcome for the people from all over the world who sang the national anthem, claiming a beautiful vision of America as the truth that will yet be. I pray stamina for the civic and religious leaders—Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and more—who call us to our better angels. And for the teenage African-American boy who thanked me for coming out tonight, I pray that he be surrounded by so much active work for justice, so much engagement and care by people outside his family, that he someday expects old white ladies to be on the street.30
January 31, 2017
This evening I am praying for the Black Lives Matter activists who brought the venerable American tradition of protest into the forefront of our collective imagination. Labor unions and peacemakers and others have kept the tradition alive, but the BLM activists taught a new generation, and reminded some of the rest of us, how to stand up together. When news of this Muslim ban came out, people all over the country made signs and went to the nearest international airport. We knew what to do. We know what this looks like, because we have had such fine exemplars these past few years. Many of those activists have paid—and continue to pay—a heavy price for their work for justice. Tonight I pray help comes at every crossroad, support on every difficult day, concrete assistance in times of need, and a hedge against the evil that always pushes against true courage. I pray they are each surrounded by steadfast companions on this journey, and that joy rises of its own accord.31
February 1, 2017
Tonight I give thanks for rigorous historians who offer us facts, perspective, and a sense of how different scenarios have unfolded in the past. Historians teach us about great figures from other centuries, models of courage and fierce intelligence to emulate in our own lives. They also teach us about danger signs and patterns of predictable misuse of power.
I pray stamina for every historian who spends long hours in the library, persistence for the scholars who check the sources carefully, encouragement for young history buffs who are told this isn’t a good career path, and patience for those stalwart teachers who strive to hand the wisdom of the ages to students unconvinced of its value. I pray for the non-professional historians—the grandparents, uncles and aunts, and elders of the community who remember the communal story. Here I think especially of Jewish friends whose remembrance of the Shoah compels them to work for justice in Palestine and in America. I think also of families whose grandparents immigrated to the U.S. years ago. The community no longer thinks that this is an immigrant family. But the family remembers the experiences that lead them to flee, the long struggle to get here, the fear and hunger and insecurity. I pray that these historians tell their stories loud and clear. Dear God, please bless me with a history-loving spirit. Bless those who do this noble work. Amen.
February 2, 2017
I ask God to bless those people—over 1,000—who signed the State Department dissent cable. DT makes it a point of pride to harm those whom he perceives to have slighted him in some way. These Foreign Service officers and other employees of the State Department are taking a stand that has significant risks. God, please smooth the paths before them, protect them from meanness, and give them perseverance in this tumultuous time.
I also thank God for the many people who have worked over the years to make the Boy Scouts of America more inclusive. That must have looked like a hopeless battle at many points. Yet people kept pressing, and now transgender boys can join the Boy Scouts. I do not know the names of the people who made this happen, bit by bit, but God does. May they always be greeted with the welcome they worked to extend to others.32
February 3, 2017
I thank God for humor tonight, and pray God’s blessing on every comedian and satirist who is resisting with wit and laughter. Like parents passing out snacks and juice to exhausted children, they give us a bit of sustenance and cajole us back onto the field of play.
When it seems like staying sane and being politically engaged are mutually exclusive choices, humorists demonstrate that this is a false dichotomy. We can be sane, informed, and engaged, but it requires levity.
God, these people offer their light to the rest of us. Grant them deep wellsprings of humor, pleasure, and joy. To every subversive late night host, every funny writer who takes aim at injustice, and every soul who adds to the restorative resistance of hashtag humor about Bowling Green and updates about the current whereabouts of Frederick Douglass, please bring energy and inspiration. Laughter is an antidote to fear. May we fear no evil. Amen.33
February 4, 2017
I pray for all the lawyers who are working on behalf of vulnerable populations. The legal system in the U.S. is terribly flawed, but it also marks our aspirations for justice and equity. Many lawyers enter the field to uphold these values and spend their days pursuing them. God, please grant stamina and energy to these servants of the public good. Help them to be clear-headed, quick-thinking, and creative in their use of legal measures to protect our society’s highest goals. Guide those who are judges with your spirit of compassion and your relentless grace.
February 5, 2017
Holy
