A Prayer for Courage to Remember and Witness

A Prayer for Courage to Remember and Witness

 

Liberator and Lover of Freedom to Be Whole and Enough, may we learn and lean into the courage to remember history as it happened, to bear witness to the harm and to the hopes, to the imperfect people making sometimes, often, horrific choices. May we bear witness knowing that witnessing is part of acknowledging what is true and real and in that acknowledging what is true and real there is space to breathe, space to hold ourselves and each other with consent and care, space to shed the mythologies and hallucinations that carry forth reasons for oppressions and harm today. Liberator and Lover of Freedom, may we refuse to cover over the past with pleasant stories that are falsehoods just because they feel slightly less painful, or because they are blandly palatable to those in power. May we not turn away from the past, from our shared history that brings us into this shared present, that set forth ways of thinking and believing, inequities in power and resources, inequities in law and the application of the law. And may we especially not turn away so that we may yet know what is happening now, and when harm is happening, do what we can to stop it, to witness it, to bring resources and real change as a result of bearing witness. Liberator and Lover of Freedom to Be Whole and Enough, you know we can nurture our capacities to be with discomfort through this study and witnessing of history. You know we can grow more courageous and resist more fully the harm happening today. May we do so, abundantly, persistently, and with fierce love. Amen.