Not on Our Watch Lord,
We tried to say last summer,
as we rallied together and chanted Black Lives Matter
And bought books by Blacks, and resourced Mutual Aid, and made hearty promises.
Not on our watch, as whispers came to defund the police,
and we spoke about what injustice really meant and statues of Southern Rebels Toppled-
But then God,
The couple who threatened marchers got a fine,
and marchers got run over again and again by a car
and the President called both sides very fine people.
And today a colleague is engaging in the Holy Practice of Despair Dishwashing,
Rage Cleaning
and Sweary Laundry…
and Perhaps some Sadness Sweeping…
because even as the good news of Union wins, Bills for the poor and Julius Jones
being saved from unjust execution at the last second–the victories are too few and far between.
Christ I this is why I need Christmas.
Every
Single
God
Blessed
Year.
Because
I need to remember that you
And not White Supremacy reigns
And that you come to conquer the Imperial tendencies of humanity
And that it’s not, “Not on our watch”
but not on YOUR watch
You defeat ALL evil
With Justice and Mercy and Peace
Every Time
and you how do you do it?
With tiny Baby.
Sweet Baby Jesus.
I am ready,
Let’s do this Justice thing.
And practice it again,
Til we imperfect humans get it right, I pray.
Until we see that injustice anywhere hurts everyone everywhere.
I’ll be waiting,
with tears in my eyes,
cleaning coping mechanisms in my hands
and peace words on my breath.
Let’s Go God!
Amen.
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta
As always, if my prayers touch you, feel free to support my work by throwing $5, $10, $20 towards my 2nd year of Doctorate in Creative Writing, because January is Coming up Fast. Thank you.