Long Way Here

Today’s prayer is from the same book as Monday’s prayer. The prayer is entitled, A Thanksgiving Prayer for the Abolition of the African Slave Trade (1808) by Absalom Jones.

Absalom Jones wrote this prayer in response to The Slave Trade Act 1807, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. It did not abolish the practice of slavery but encouraged British action to pressure other nation states to abolish their own slave trades. The U.S. Congress agreed that traders would be fined under the Act, but ultimately did nothing to ensure its enforcement:

“It was an empty and mostly symbolic law. The act failed to close the door on the ongoing international slave trade while flinging open thee door to a domestic one. Violations of human rights continued when children were snatched from parents, and slave ships now travelled down American waters in a kind of ‘middle passage’ from Virginia to New Orleans, which took as many das as the transatlantic ‘middle passage’ had.”

Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning (New York: Nation Books, 2016), 136.

Of course Jones would not know the outcome when he wrote this prayer, but his cry of thanksgiving and passionate petitions should still be heard.

Oh thou God of all nations upon the earth! we thank thee, that thou art no respecter of persons, and thou hast made of one blood all nations of men (Acts 17:26, KJV). We thank thee, that thou hast appeared, in the fullness of time, in behalf of the nation from which most of the worshipping people, now before thee, are descended. We thank thee, that the sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2) has at last shed morning beams upon them. Rend thy heavens, O Lord, and come down upon the earth; and grant that the mountains, which now obstruct the perfect day of thy goodness and mercy toward them, may flow down at thy presence (Isaiah 64:1). Send thy gospel, we beseech thee, among them. May the nations, which now sit in darkness, behold and rejoice in its light. May Ethiopia soon stretch out her hands unto thee, and lay hold of the gracious promise of thy everlasting covenant. Destroy, we beseech thee, all the false religions which now prevail among them; and grant, that they may soon cast their idols, to the moles and the bats of the wilderness. O, hasten that glorious time, when the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea, when, “the world shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them”; and when, “instead of the thorn, shall come up the fir tree, and, instead of the brier, shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name and for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 55:13). We pray, O God, for all our friends and benefactors in Great Britain, as well as the United States: reward them, we beseech thee, with blessings upon earth, prepare them to enjoy the fruits of their kindness to us, in thy everlasting kingdom in heaven; and dispose us, who are assembled in thy presence, to be always for thy mercies, and to act as a people who owe so much to thy goodness. We implore thy blessing, O God, upon the President, and all who are in authority in the United States. Direct them by thy wisdom, in all their deliberations, and O save thy people from the calamities of war. Give people in our day, we beseech thee, O thou God of peace! and grant, that this highly favored country may continue to afford a safe and peaceful retreat from the calamities of war and slavery, for ages yet to come. We implore all these blessings and mercies, only in the name of thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And now, O Lord, we desire with angels and arch-angels, and the company of heaven, ever more to praise thee, saying, “Holy holy holy Lord God almighty: the whole earth is full of thy glory.” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8)

Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans by James Melvin Washington, 12-13.

During the month of February, on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I will offer prayers from African American brothers and sisters. Black history is American history. More so, Black Christian history is Christian history. Our shared roots run deep into Christ’s life, even though our shared experiences are profoundly different. 

Context matters, both the context from which the prayers are written to the context from which they are read and received. So, if you are a white brother or sister I encourage you to listen intently to the experiences these prayers reflect. Consider the time in American history from which the prayers are written. Receive them with humility and allow their prayers to shape your own. These are mothers and fathers of our faith and have much to teach us. If you are a brother or sister of color, may these prayers and the storied-faith that formed them be a balm for your soul.

I will use a variety of sources and cite appropriately. 

May the Spirit of Christ open our eyes and ears, minds and hearts.

We begin with a prayer from Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans by James Melvin Washington. I recommend this book to you, though it is hard to find. We draw prayers from it for WCC’s Sunday liturgy from time to time. It is a beautiful gift to the Church. I am thankful to my bro and fellow pastor Rich Villodas for pointing me to it. I feel that Pastor Richard Allen’s words written from his moment in history is the right way to begin.

Richard Allen (1760–1831) was the father of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the oldest black institution in the United States. He was born into slavery and sold as a child to a plantation owner in Delaware who then sold his mother and three of his five siblings, all of whom he would never see again (it is worth remembering that family-separation has long been a practice in American history impacting countless generations of African American neighbors). However, an older brother and sister remained on the plantation, and the three of them began attending meetings held in the woods by itinerant Methodist preachers. 

He surrendered his life to Jesus Christ at the age of 17, after hearing a white itinerant Methodist preacher preach against slavery. His enslaver listened to the same sermon and also converted. He eventually permitted Allen to purchase his freedom for $2,000. Richard did so by 1783. The paper detailing Allen’s freedom would become the first document to be held as a public file, having been donated to the Pennsylvania Abolition Society.

In 1794 Richard founded Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The congregation met in a small blacksmith shop. A few years later in 1799 he was ordained as the first black Methodist minister by Bishop Asbury in recognition of his leadership and preaching. In 1816, Richard combined several different congregations and founded the denomination known as the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). This was the first fully independent black denomination in the United States. It is from this storied-faith and Black American experience he writes this prayer.

The following prayer has been entitled, A Prayer for Hope.

O, my God, in all my dangers, temporal and spiritual, I will hope in thee who art Almighty power, and therefore able to relieve me; who art infinite goodness, and therefore ready and willing to assist me.

O, precious blood of my dear Redeemer! O, gaping wounds of my crucified Saviour! Who can contemplate the sufferings of God incarnate, and not raise his hope, and not put his trust in Him? What, though my body be crumbled into dust, and that dust blown over the face of the earth, yet I undoubtedly know my Redeemer lives, and shall raise me up at the last day; whether I am comforted or left desolate; whether I enjoy peace or am afflicted with temptations; whether I am healthful or sickly, succored or abandoned by the good things of this life, I will always hope in thee, O, my chiefest, infinite good.

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; although the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields yield no meat; although the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

What, though I mourn and am afflicted here, and sigh under the miseries of this world for a time, I am sure that my tears shall one day be turned to joy, and that joy none shall take from me. Whoever hopes for the great things in this world, takes pains to attain them; how can my hopes of everlasting life be well grounded, if I do not strive and labor for that eternal inheritance? I will never refuse the meanest labors, while I look to receive such glorious wages; I will never repine at any temporal loss, while I expect to gain such eternal rewards. Blessed hope! be thou my chief delight in life, and then I shall be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; be thou my comfort and support at the hour of death, and then I shall contentedly leave this world, as a captive that is released from his imprisonment.

Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans by James Melvin Washington, 10.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 76th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

So today I remember. In addition to what my sister Amy mentions below, I remember the role pastors associated with the Christian faith played, complicity or explicitly, in supporting this nationalistic agenda of ethnic superiority. I remember those who attended church every Sunday with Bible in hand and grew more in love with the idolatry they called “Germany,” rooted in the false belief of God-ordained German exceptionalism. 

I remember not just victims, but those who participated in the atrocity by their silence, willful blindness, timidity, or advocacy. I remember in the hope that I will learn and see.

“Today we remember the 6 million Jews and 5 million others deemed unfit (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma, gay men etc.) who lost their lives at the hands of the Nazi’s and their allies. We must remember these people whose only crime was being of a different religion, race, and sexual orientation. We cannot let history repeat itself. Give a moment of silence for them today.” ~ Amy Lee 

Catherine of Siena (d. 1380 at the age of 33) lived in a community dedicated to good works. This excerpt is from a letter to a monk named Bartolomeo Dominici.

“God has loved us without being loved, but we love him because we are loved…we cannot profit him, nor love him with this first love…In what way can we do this, then, since he demands it and we cannot give it to him? I tell you…we can be useful, not to him, which is impossible, but to our neighbor…love is gained in love by raising the eye of our mind to behold how much we are loved by God. Seeing ourselves loved, we cannot otherwise than love.”

The mothers of the Christian faith still nurture my soul. Catherine of Siena tells me that I must not allow the cloud of self-love to darken the eyes of my heart. Instead, I need to reset my attention to see the love of God. Then, I will see my neighbor as I see myself. I will tend to their needs as I would tend to my own. I will give generously to their needs with the kind of generosity I would want to receive. In doing so love is multiplied and the love of God becomes tangible to each of us.

Beloved, wherever our gaze is set that is where we are placing our hope. If self, then self and all that self can do. If Christ, then Christ and all that Christ can do.

Where is your gaze set? Take a few moments and ask the Lord.

“Everything, given time and nurturing, is moving toward balance and healing. The mushrooms that cleaned the land after nuclear trauma… the process of forest growth after a fire… the way our skin heals after a cut… stronger than before. Healing is organizing, healing is our birthright.”

Lisa Thomas Adeyemo, cited in Adrienne Maree Brown’s Emergent Strategy (2017)

God’s shalom includes God’s desire for healing. Healing is a part of God’s economy. Lean in. It is your birthright.