Dear Family !
Happy Sabbath Day of Rest! I have been taking trips down memory lane lately and have discovered that we don't really know much about history as the song goes. Yes it is true. Being in church today and many days I have many of these such trips. Right here, right now I would like everyone to get a pen and a piece of paper and write down these things:
Date of Birth:
The decades you have lived ( 60's, 70's 80's etc)
Leave spaces in between.
What Monumental thing happened to you, your family, your church, and the world?
What impressions do each of these things evoke mentally and emotionally?
Now if your parents or elder mentors are still living and you don't remember things when you were little ask them what they remember.
What social justice events happened during these times? Find a picture that represent each decade and use them to pray for the people who were forerunners and those who are still struggling.
Here is the genus for the above! Let's start our personal social justice journal
Reflections on many things a warm up before I write tonight's blog.
As I sat in church today and as I have for many days I have come to realize that most of my life has been spent within the walls of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Santa Maria 5 decades and a little more. For the first 10 years we were in the era of Civil Rights, Hippies, and the Vietnam war and still we were using the 1928 Prayer Book. This was also the time when we would process the flags and cross together and sing the National Anthem after the processional hymn. Quite nationalistic and at the same time when we began to question many things such as was it ok for us to be in Vietnam, Worship a Flag, the role of Women in the church, just to name a few. I was in the St. Cecilia Junior Choir and singing the National Anthem wasn't easy. That stopped when Fr. Parke retired and Fr. Barry Woods arrived. We would only sing national songs on the 4th of July, Memorial Day, and maybe Thanksgiving. The 70's brought us more emphasis on peace making and we received took in a Vietnamese refugee family who lived next door to the church. We began to have our first female acolyte, Michele Racusin who set the tone for all of us to follow. Pat Jenna was our first woman chalice bearer and woman whom we actually knew who was attending Bloy House. Quite a few of us were excited when women became ordained to the priesthood. During this time we began to look towards having an exchange student from Uganda through African Enterprise. Most of us hadn't heard about the atrocities in Africa let alone Uganda. I will tell more next week!
Using the Decades let us be at prayer! You may add to this list !
God we remember the 60's and pray for all who worked for an end to the Vietnam War, the spread of Civil and Voting Rights, Space Exploration, and the expanse of women's roles in society. The Stonewall Riots. We give thanks for the Civil Rights Pioneers, Muhammad Ali, Anti-war Activists, Martin Luther King Jr. Hippies, and early feminists.
God, we remember the 70's and pray and give thanks for the Paris Peace accords that ended the Vietnam War, The approval of the Ordination of Women in the Episcopal Church, The United Farm Workers who worked tirelessly for those who worked in the fields and those who harvested grapes. We give thanks for the gift of Golda Meir. Help us to remember the events of Watergate so that we may learn from them. We give thanks for the protesters during this era: ERA, NOW, SDS, UFW, We pray for all Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian Refugees who came to this country seeking a better life. We give thanks for Title IX and the many women sports figures who made this a better world for everyone in athletics and academics.
God we remember the 80's and pray for those who were working for the end to the scourge of A.I.D.S and the faces of AIDS (Ryan White, Robert Reed, Liberace, Rock Hudson, and those who are still living with H.I.V. Greg Louganis and Magic Johnson) We give thanks for protesters from ACT-UP, Mothers for Peace, Professors for Social Responsibility, The Nuclear Freeze Movement. Anti-nuclear movements. We pray for all African refugees from Uganda, Kenya and all who sought to come this country fleeing terrible conditions and oppression. We remember also our family members who fled Communist countries seeking a better life.
God we remember the 90's and pray for all who were working towards a cleaner environment and the furtherance of justice issues. We remember those who fought Apartheid in South Africa remembering Nelson Mandela, Steven Biko, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. We pray and remember those who kept the torches lit for those who were not free in the world. We pray and give thanks for Farm-Aid, Live Aid, USA for Africa, ONE,
God we remember the 20's up until today and pray for our LGBT Family members who continue to strive for equality, We remember those who are seeking to abolish the death penalty. We pray for peace in the world. We remember and pray for and end to gun violence, racial disunity, those seeking to return and respect all indigenous lands and peoples, we pray for an end to any kind of violence and terror. We pray and give thanks for those who are working towards prison reform through restorative justice. We pray for all who are working towards better solutions for the least of these.
God we give thanks and pray for all social justice movements and those who brought change into our lives, hearts and minds.
We lift up our additional prayers to you__________________________
Help us O God to live out our lives in Compassion, acceptance, Love,and mercy in service to our entire world family.
Let us light one candle in unity as we lift up our prayers to you! Amen.
Let us sing this song from the Beatles
All you need is love! The Beatles!
Please take a look at this blog for more help and information:
Today We Begin our Social Justice Campaign
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Good Night All! I love you ! I give thanks to God for you always!
Love and blessings!
Sara
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