A Prayer for Us

Dear Godmother of heaven and earth and all that in them is and was,

Mother of all living beings and things

Grieving Mother of all who are unhealthy, depressed, oppressed, oppressing, depressing, expiring, expired

Exuberant Mother giving birth daily

We honor your spoken, living word inducing birth pangs

Your melodious words that preceded earth, sun, moon, stars,

The shaping of the seas, oceans, rivers, lakes

We remember the labor of your hands

That scooped up soil to form a human being

And from that same refined substance, a second human being

Your female children, I present to you in need of healing, justice, help

Healing we need from being bruised and at times crushed

Under the foot of a sacralized notion that women must

Stand under the foot or behind the back of your male children

One child grabs the other’s heel greedily snatching what is his AND hers

Healing we need from being suppressed and muted

Because some of our sisters and brothers have decreed that you

Have mandated our silence in the church, the pulpit, in the presence of men and authorities

Deliverance we need from being seen as less than desired subjects of research

Research that might tells us more about our bodies, our health

Mother you know, our black sisters experience higher cancer mortality rates

Than their counterparts, so teach us prevention and mutual care

While inequity in research, access to excellent care, and racism persist.

Some persist propagating that beautiful women of color are less pretty, not as intelligent

Protect us from those darts that can pierce our souls

Heal our minds, our hearts, our souls so that we value and love ourselves, our voices, our sometimes unique physiognomy, critical education, justice everywhere, immeasurable forgiveness, sisterhood without prejudice and deceit

Teach us to promote wholeness of mind, body and soul

Heal us where we are divisive except where our disruption of the status quo

Is a consequence of our pursuit of justice for all God’s children.

Open our eyes to see our sisters, children & brothers living under the cruel hand of poverty

To crush homelessness, hunger, disease, blaming of the victim, and oppressive systems.

Heal, Lord, our sisters, children and brothers who have been afflicted by

Hatred, bigotry, Cancer, strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, high blood pressure, MS, leukemia, AIDS, and deteriorating undiscriminating diseases

That cripple mind, body, and soul

That shorten and diminish the quality of our lives and threaten the well being of

Our children, our communities, and our world.

Godmother of us all,

Heal us.