at the screens that show large companies declaring their support for immigrants, refugees, and the value of inclusivity. I am unaccustomed to the idea that multinational brands could take moral leadership. Questions come: Yes, but how do they treat their workers? Yes, but what is their impact on the environment? Yes, but are they just trying to manipulate our emotions for financial gain?
As the questions bounce around, I sense an underlying swell of gratitude. Thank you, God, for the businesswomen and men who are choosing to use their public platforms to affirm the noble values to which our society aspires. Justice. Fairness. The strength of difference in unity. They are, in some small way, reminding us who we say we are, and holding us accountable to that standard. The questions that come to me are valid and important, insofar as they are used to hold these businesses accountable, too. Forgive me, God, when I lose sight of that, and let my critical inquiry become a test of purity. Because rejecting tests of imagined purity—of any kind—is central to the work of justice. I give thanks for help from unexpected places, and I ask God to bless the people of 84 Lumber, Ben and Jerry’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Nike, Budweiser, and every other company resisting hate and supporting welcome. Grant them each a double measure of courage and creativity, and may their examples stir the hearts of other business professionals. Let them not grow weary in this work. Amen.34
February 7, 2017
I pray God’s peace upon John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, who has stated that someone who embraces racism and sexism should not be invited to address parliament. I don’t know anything about this man except this: he is refusing to acquiesce. He is resisting the temptation to pretend things are normal, or to normalize them with pomp and ceremony. God grant him a steadfast spirit, a loud voice, and increasing company.35
February 8, 2017
Faithful and steadfast God, please bless every person who persists in talking about the sin of racism that plagues us. In our broken state, we are eager to be deceived, and so we willingly accept nonsense. We imagine that speaking about racism is impolite, and thereby allow racism to flourish.
Thank you, God, that Coretta Scott King persisted in speaking and writing about racism, using her voice and pen to tell the truth and shame the devil.
I ask that you guard and protect Senator Elizabeth Warren. Place around her a hedge against evil. Grant her eloquence; incline the ears of many towards her. Bless her speech with power and her soul with an unyielding dedication to the truth. May she be an example to her peers, and to us, that it may be said of us, “nevertheless, they persisted.”36
February 9, 2017
Holy God, tonight I want to pray for the judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I ask you—God of justice, mercy, and gratuitous love—to bless these persons, in that mysterious way that you do, providing what is needed even before the lack is felt.
I’ve said that I will pray every evening for people who are resisting the destructive forces at work in the United States. I am wary that I might insult these judges by including them in these nightly devotions. I do not know them. Perhaps they would prefer not to be portrayed as taking a side in our current struggle. Perhaps they are clear that they are simply following the rule of law—which transcends partisanship—and their ruling today is the logical outcome. Yet such an attitude is, in these bewildering days, revolutionary. Abiding by the rule of law, having three distinct branches of government, attending to the expressed will and concerns of the people, separating the Presidency from business—so that business relations can’t influence the president and the president can’t influence business deals—these basic tenets of American governance are all under threat, such that anyone who sustains them is a resister. Whether these judges see their actions as resistance or merely competence, I am grateful to and for them. I pray for every person who refuses to be bought or sold. We live in a world in which anything can be commoditized—even our attention—and financial transactions have become a dominant model for human interaction. I pray that our new administration is consistently denied an adequate source of people eager to be bought, eager to sell. Creator God, keep it at the forefront of our minds that we are yours in a much more grounded way. Your claim on us is not ownership, but rather creation and love. We are yours because you made us. We are yours because you love us. Unstoppable resistance can be grounded in this love. Amen37
February 10, 2017
Dear God, I give thanks for all the schools across the country, from Ivy League universities to the Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky, that have publicly stated their commitment to immigrant, refugee, and international students.
The current administration of the United States incites fear—fear that demands walls and divisions. Schools are not meant to house fear, but to nurture curiosity. God, you made us curious creatures. We long to know more. At our best, this is not a quest for individual self-aggrandizement, but the communal and collective longing to reach beyond ourselves toward one another and, ultimately, toward you. The educators at these schools recognize that we face global challenges that require global collaboration, challenges that are environmental, medical, scientific, economic, political, ethical, and philosophical. They know that we learn, teach, research, discover, create, and innovate better together. They acknowledge that music blows past borders; art escapes containment; literature calls across continents. Please bless the students, faculty, administration, and staff of each of these schools. Grant them the courage of their convictions, should there be need, to protect the vulnerable in their communities. In particular, I pray tonight for Todd G. May, Chenjerai Kumanyika, and Mike Sears, three professors at Clemson University. Their school has not yet publicly opposed the Muslim and Refugee ban. In order to bring attention to this issue and to encourage the administration to take a principled stand, these teachers began a six-day “Fast Against Silence” on February 6. Matthew 5:6 states, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” In order to promote justice and compassion in their school, these teachers go hungry. God, please strengthen, protect, and support these professors. Grant them physical health to endure this discipline. Gather support around them, and let their witness be fruitful in the Clemson community. Amen.38
February 11, 2017
God, please bless all the people who are showing up at town halls, rallies, and protests. It makes such a difference to show up in person. But, of course, you know that.
February 12, 2017
Dear God, please bless the musicians who give us strength to resist, who tell the truth, who cast visions of new realities, and who comfort us in times of suffering. Grant them inspiration. Amen.
February 13, 2017
Dear God, please bless the coders working in Berkeley and some twenty other places around the country to preserve all the intricate scientific data that is now vulnerable to government erasure. They are “tagging and bagging” complex information that could help us prevent still more harm to the earth. They are tracking when data goes missing—as some already has. Guard them, God, as they try to guard your creation from willful stupidity. Give them insight, creativity, brilliance, and good coffee. Let your Spirit sustain them in this work. Amen.39
February 14, 2017
Steadfast God, thank you for the elders in the struggle. I am thinking particularly of a woman at church who told me in November that we would have to take to the streets. An activist throughout the sixties, she is deeply troubled that she no longer has the physical strength to march. I am also thinking of an eighty-three-year-old man from the same congregation, who has been protesting for the first time in his life this year. He refuses to stand idly by while immigrants and refugees are targeted. God of strength and mercy, I ask you to multiply—exponentially—the power and influence of these two faithful Christians. And while you’re at it,
