Tag: Protest

Hosanna, a Protest Song

Hosanna is a Protest Song
Sung
in the words
Of the meek

it starts from the back door
with a murmur
a request
for a healing for a friend
an opening in a roof
a touch on a cloak
a plea for an (unnamed) daughter at home

Hosanna is a Protest Song
it bends the norms of society
blurring the lines between
Samaritan and Jewish
Sadducees and Pharisees
Male and female
Salve and Free

Hosanna is a Protest song
Reshaping the very bounds of our understanding
allowing children to come in freely
valuing the widow like the rich man
seeing no difference between the younger and the elder
calling the eunuch to God

Hosanna is a Protest Song
Forgiving Peter before he even denies Jesus
Reminding of Thomas bravery more than his doubt
Telling the story of the Resurrection straight from the women’s lips
Reminding us all that if we want to see Jesus
He is already here, among the poor, the imprisoned and the hungry, Go and serve and you will surely see Christ

Hosanna is a Protest Song
That the world should not be like this
We know it, and we are not going to try violence to bring Jesus back
Because our God is the disarmed God, the one who hung their bow permanently in the sky, to remind us that they are the God of Peace
And when we didn’t Get the message
Sent Jesus to walk the walk of peace even unto the cross again

Hosanna is a protest song
It says
Save us
Saving us
Salvation is worth it
Kin(g)dom is an active verb
It is embodying the prayer
Thy Kin(g)dom Come, Thy Will be Done

Reminding us that Our God wants to save
most likely, probably everyone
And hard as that truth is
That God doesn’t need us to protest for Christianity
Instead, we protest,
To save EVERYBODY
And we need our actions
to fit those words

Because God Loves every stinking one of us

Hosanna
Save us
Indeed

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

Psalm 3: Prayer for Minneapolis in the midst of danger

God,
You know our foes 
are endless
They are armed to the teeth

With guns
nefarious policies
and hate

And many are saying 
God cannot help you
For these White Supremacists

Are they not calling on the same God?

But God, you are my protection
Because, you sustain the Love 
Within my heart
reminding me of small children
in bunny hats

Of women in cars
And disarmed observers
And police officers leading Jan 7th rioters 
away from Congress
All of whom are worthy of your protection

So I cry out to you 
I cry before I go to bed
And somehow I Fall to Sleep
And then I wake up
Tears, still in my eyes
And cry out again

Lord, Sweet, Baby Jesus
I know the only thing Sustaining 
me is you

Selah!

I am not afraid of my enemies
I say
(Sometimes) 

I am will do the next brave thing
Contact my senator
Mutual Aid

I will not give up
Rise up
God

My rock and my salvation

You will strike up my enemies
(not my job)
And break the teeth of the wicked

Note Lord, how I’m praying for your justice, not mine

Come sit with us, 

Cry with us, Save us, Make your presence known, Holy Spirit we do not know what to Say or do anymore. 

Rise up, Lord. 

And teach us how to Rise up too, we even in the midst of all of this we pray.

Amen.

Feel free to share/adapt/ use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

Protest Beatitudes

Blessed* are the protestors
They hold the foretaste Justice on their tongue
It tastes like Community

Blessed are the arrested
They are the forerunners of Liberation
For they know that the root of Liberation is the same as Salvation: Soteria

Blessed are the kidnapped, the human trafficked, the aching families separated
The are tears running down our faces

Blessed are the gassed, the rubber bulleted the trampled
They are voice of the muted, the embodiment of empathy, the spirit of our movement

Blessed are artists, the youth, the elders with wisdom, the marginalized with unique perspectives
They are are prophets giving us ears to hear and hearts to understand

Blessed are the newest among the fold, the awkward, the uncomfortable and uncertain
They are the students, reminding us that there is always more to learn

Blessed are the disparate opinions: the go faster and go slow, the people of faith and the atheists, the Black, Brown and White and all to privileged.
We are the movement, figuring out how to work together, imagining a better system than the one that exists now, may it be so.

*In Aramaic (the native tongue of Jesus) Blessings Baruach is not a passive word, but a word to activate you. You are not blessed. You are gifted with things so you can work with them and use them because you are called to them. Therefore let us be blessed and bless one another in our works. –according to Elias Chacour former ArchBishop of Jerusalem in the Eastern Orthodox Church

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

A poster of a yellow chicken and a yellow background. There are black speech bubbles all around the chickens head. Each bubble had swords in them handwritten in white. Words are from bottom left around head to the right, each bubble word is in quotes. “Ha” “ha” “ha” “a joke” “taco” “man baby” “no creepy rambling losers” “no kings” “June14” and “weak ass.” Written in darker yellow on each side of the chicken “we have” “power” above the yellow words are 2 black lightning bolts. Below the yellow words are “more info bookings.org” and “fight for democracy” written in black. Artwork by Martha Rich (copyright 2025)

No Kings Graphic by MarathRic63 Chicken in Yellow “We Have Power” Moreinfo Nokings.org Taco, A Joke, Power, Fight for Democracy, No Kings,

A Prayer for the Protestor

A prayer for the protestor, who left the safety of their house to make their outrage known.

May you be blessed with the strength of your message

May the Holy Spirit  protect you, and your body and your face. Keeping you safe from abuse or identification.

May the food & water be plentiful for your journey, as well as the masks and the hand sanitizer.

Bless your hands, your voice, your feet that carry your message; blessings for all those being the hands and feet of Christ.

May you move the hardened hearts and open up the stopped ears.

May your outcomes be worth the risks.

May the language of marching, blocking traffic, graffiti, destruction of private property and riots be made clear.

Let all injustice end.

May your anger be righteous, and may your prayers be able to flip the tables of the greedy and move the mountains of authority.

Let justice roll down like water: keeping violence out of the hands of the powers & principalities, turning the power structures upside-down so the marginalized can finally be heard and saved.

Lord hear your prayer, Lord hear our prayer, Amen!

 

Feel free to use or Adapt with Credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Black Lives Matter

Psalm 73: Plea for Relief from the Oppressors Rewritten