On Saturday, January 21st, millions of women, men and children gathered for the Women’s March in cities around the world. I was honored and humbled to offer the opening prayer at the march in Trenton.
Will you please join me in the spirit of prayer, meditation, or open hearted contemplation.
Holy and beautiful is the day which brings us together.
Here we have gathered – a bold and ready collective, to have our power known.
Power that is as ancient as it is strong,
In the birth of babes, to the tables we set,
in board rooms, in pulpits, in and out of closets, in fields.
Today we are a ready collective, to have our power known.
Holy and beautiful, we come together.
Today we shall pray with our feet
And with our hands, may we reach out, one for the other.
Take our hearts and synch them to the rhythm of our intentions
Distracted by selfies and the cold
May we look around
– Look around!
And call ourselves back to the purpose of this day.
For never has there been such a collective.
The suffragists kept their circle closed and white
This body is one body
Of many shades and accents
Of different abilities and pronouns
Of beautiful faiths that stand on the same stage
In celebration that nothing is any one of ours alone
And that we can do nothing alone.
May it be in this spirit that whatever happens today
Must happen tomorrow
That with our presence we are committing ourselves to the long haul
The uninhibited, arms open, offering ourselves to the work
Companioning, leading, stepping back, leaning in,
Frightening, fragile, holy work
That we will need
That we need.
And finally, spirit of life and love,
When they say this was all because of one man, all this upset was because of him.
May we be ready, with tongues afire,
That this – this beautiful powerful and sacred collective –
is about She and Her and Zed.
This is about all the women and girls who for too long have been told
It’s all about him.
In the name of all things Holy.
Blessed be and Amen.