A Litany for Martin:
I wrote the following litany for the interfaith MLK Day celebrations this year, and for Prayers of the People in my parish. Please feel free to use, share, modify and apply to your particular contexts if you desire. –Rev. Charles Graves, IV
Let us Pray: when I say “Hallelujah” please respond “Amen!”
Holy God, Divine Spirit, Ruler of All, We thank you this day for all who are gathered here, and all across this nation and across this earth, fighting for justice, striving for peace. We thank you for all those who are no longer with us, whose battles have ended, who fought the good fight and who have finished the race. Hallelujah, – Amen
For those who stood up, and for those who sat down. For those who marched and for those who ran. For those who wrote and for those who prayed, for those who preached, and for those who sang, and for those who gave of themselves in every way, we say “Thank you”. Hallelujah, – Amen
And we thank you especially for a man named Martin, born some ninety years ago this very weekend. Help us to stand in his footsteps and of so many others with whom we could not and would not be standing here together. Hallelujah, – Amen
Spirit of Justice, Mother of Wisdom, Protector of the Oppressed, We stand in a divided nation and a divided earth. Give us strength always to stand together against every form of violence and evil, oppression and degradation. Hallelujah, – Amen
Grant us daily the courage to protect the immigrant and the widow, the underpaid and the overworked, the imprisoned and those with nowhere to lay their head. Empower us to never be impressed by unjust power and oppressive wealth. Hallelujah, – Amen
Bless us to be vulnerable to your healing and reconciling love. May we acknowledge the ways we corrupt and denigrate one another, make amends, and always return to the Way of Love. Hallelujah, – Amen
Draw us together in relationship to you and one another, that Becoming Beloved Community may be our constant refrain from generation to generation.
And may it all be so in the name of the One who is the Source of all things.
Hallelujah, – Amen
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