Dear Ones of St. Columba's,

There have been many times in the past two weeks when I have found myself without words. In the face of all that we are holding - a country in perilous transition, traumatic events at our capital, the continuing frightening reality of COVID in our daily lives - what is there to say? What words could possibly help or change or soothe? This lack of words to say has me contemplating words, and how important they are. 

Rabbi and Jewish scholar Abraham J. Heschel famously said, to his students and to his daughter, that "words create worlds." He said this from the position of a Jewish person in a post-Nazi world, a human who lost his mother and three sisters to Hitler's regime. Heschel knew what sort of world words of hate and violence could create. 

We know more about this today than we did two weeks ago as well, friends. Our president said words that helped to create a world of violence and pain in our capital that day. 

And he chose something different. He eventually came to the USA and in 1963 shared the stage with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a conference on religion in Chicago. The two men became friends, and Heschel would later march next to Dr. King from Selma to Montgomery, saying that marching for justice felt, to him, "like my legs were praying." 

I am meditating on both of these quotes, this week, as our politicians do their best to create worlds with their words and I find myself without words to pray. 

For the next few weeks as our country transitions between administrations I want the words I say to create and support worlds of peace, justice, compassion, kindness, and hope. I want to put my time and energy into the type of love embodied by Jesus, who our scripture calls "the Word." 

And I want to pray with my legs. 

Heschel's quote reminded me that while words create worlds, words are not the only way to pray. We pray with our actions, too. We worship God on Sundays when we gather online or in person but we also pray in how we parent, how we behave as neighbors, and how we choose to act to dismantle white supremacy, patriarchy, and all the forces of evil who seek to harm our vulnerable neighbors and this vulnerable world. I can keep praying this way, even when I do not have words. 

Friends, I hope we can do this work of co-creating a better world and praying in all the actions we take to do it, together. This Sunday's readings focus on God's call to ordinary people to speak truth and do justice in the world. That's us. Ready or not, whether we have the words or not, we are called in this moment to love each other, to seek God's justice, and to make of our daily lives and actions, prayer. 

with care and gratitude,

Alissa