Recently, a clergy colleague and I were having a conversation about the tensions between Christian commitment and citizenship. This priest could tell that people in her congregation were feeling divided. She knew they were well-intentioned; that they were trying to do the right thing, even as they felt conflicted in making decisions and uncomfortable once the decisions were made.
She wanted to open up conversation about these tensions—tensions that have been around since the earliest days of Christianity. So one Sunday she stood in the pulpit and asked her congregation to sing Jesus Loves Me. She led with the first verse, and then got everyone to repeat it. Secretly, she had arranged with the organist to start playing America the Beautiful as the congregation was singing.
Chaos (and dissonance!) ensued. Everyone started laughing before they got to the end of the verses. It was a participatory example of what it can feel like to live faithfully in the public sphere. And while there is no single response to this tension that will be helpful to everybody, we can find connection in the shared struggle. That point of commonality is a relational foundation as we actualize our deepest values and live the faith that makes us whole.
On this All Saints Day, as we look toward our national elections, I offer the following prayer by M. Jade Kaiser. May it center us as we remember those who have gone before us in faith, hope and love.
For All Saints Day
God, you have been with us throughout the ages.
In remembrance and gratitude, we name the saints who hungered for righteousness and whose sacrifices contributed to a more just society.
I remembrance and gratitude, we name the saints who loved us and nurtured us, embraced us, celebrated us, or supported us. We are because they were.
We also hold in remembrance the ones whose lives were taken by injustice, the ones who were severed from their own sense of belovedness, those who passed on our faith, who gave us art, song, and poetry. We are because they were.
Like us, we know they were imperfect, too. Life is messy and contradictory, often betraying the very justice and love we seek to embody. And yet, you, O God, promise that our loving labors are never in vain.Help us to lean on the witness of those who have gone before us, drawing on the love, justice, community, and faith that weave us together, generation after generation—past, present and future.
With gratitude and in remembrance we pray. Amen.
