Prayers of the People - Day 11
Power to the People
“Pray for farmers and migrant workers who are in the field producing fruits & vegetables that keep us healthy. Pray for their health & flourishing.” April 29, Dominique Gilliard
“What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.” From Ecclesiastes
As the month of May approaches, workers around the world prepare to strike in order to raise awareness of inhumane working conditions and the need for better pay and more just treatment in working class jobs. This tradition is over 100 years old. It should be totally unnecessary because there are a handful of countries in the world who could wipe out the issues plaguing the working class, thus making any strike for humane conditions obsolete - by virtue of empowered empathy. The Black Panthers taught us to demand all the power for all the people. This is no babellian chant, this is no drive from the masses to build a tower to the sky. International Workers Day is a spectacle raised as a reminder of global realities. Most people on earth are working class. Researchers estimate the global average annual income at 18 thousand US dollars, or an amount with the equivalent spending power across the majority of countries in the world. Are you at or below “average”? You are being exploited and you deserve more. Are you above “average”? I hope you will commit time and effort to supporting the protests and demands of this Mayday, Friday May 1st. People deserve living wages. It truly is that simple. And this struggle truly deserves an end.
Over the past few weeks we’ve heard more about food waste and supply shortages, caused by illness among workers and immigration anxieties among undocumented people working in plants and on farms. Now more fresh food is going to waste in unprecedented amounts that it presents a national travesty. The United States already creates environmentally threatening amounts of waste. Adding food waste that might otherwise serve to interrupt poor people’s hunger, and support nutrition broadly, is simply depressing. Our prayers today are focused on the human suffering that happens. This week in plain truth- Dr. King’s ever relevant, now borderline haunting reality of the network of mutuality. The actions we take and fail to take do have communal consequences. May our actions of solidarity bring healing to a world full of hard pressed workers, hungry bodies and hurting hearts.
Lord, hear the prayers of your people.
Creator of the field and the farmer. God of the reaping and the rain, we come to you this morning in need of a new harvest. A harvest of mercy, a harvest of plenty, portioned to the people whose power seems to always be targeted and destroyed. You are the God of all wisdom, you are the builder of movements, the organizer’s brilliance.
While the whackness in Washington continues, will you raise up witnesses to remind us that you deposited your power with the people? Will you raise your Holy Spirit of power within us? For yours is the only power we bend to, the only kingdom where we do not fear our bodies will be made disposable means to wicked ends. So as we bow our heads in thanks for the hands that have made our daily bread, we pray also, repeatedly, your kingdom come.
Your new economy, your nation of no caste system and no classism. Your garden grow, your justice flow. Your yoke is easy, your burden light. These are the job conditions we long for, Lord. These are the spaces where work would flourish. Yet many of us find ourselves trapped in a time loop of trouble. Your children are working in the fields, O God, in abusive conditions, under constant threat. Your children are in fast food restaurants and at take out windows. We are losing work because our employers are shutting down completely. The leaders in our land scrambled to sell stocks rather than send us stimulus. Your children are running out of options, Lord, running out of strength.
Keep me safe, my God,for in you I take refuge… Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. From Psalm 16
Every person who rises to work this morning, Lord, we pray that you will rise in them.
Every person who is unable to rise, by illness or sadness or stress, we pray that you will rise for them. We need you to rise up, Warrior of Zion. Rise up and hear us, rise to show yourself strong. Show us how to fight for your children, even if it seems impossible. Raise our minds in divine comfort, free us from the weary weights of helplessness, and make us the ones who rise to work alongside your children.
Make us hopeful, make us communal, O God, call us to worship while we wait. Show us new ways to wage war on poverty. Bring us a new love and new empathy for all your children working at or below the global “average”. Cause us to rejoice in the work of their hands, O God for you established it. Mobilize us to demand protections and elevate the work that is essential to our livelihoods. Give us thankful hearts for the hands that make our daily bread.
For the people who provide produce and farmed goods, we give thanks.
For the catchers of fish and the cooks in every kitchen, we give thanks.
For bakers who prepare the sweet and savory, we give thanks.
For the butcher and packing plant facilities, for the immigrants who work these and countless other jobs, we give thanks.
And Lord, too, we worry. We worry and wonder and wait for the next piece of bad news.
We find no solace in the lip service of sinister politicians. We need protection, Lord. We need deliverance.
You visit the earth and water it, you enrich it with the river of God. You crown the year with your goodness. From Psalm 65
Creator of the field and the farmer. God of the reaping and the rain, we come to you this morning believing that you will bring us a new harvest. A harvest of mercy, a harvest of plenty, a harvest of dignity, portioned to the people whose power you are building and increasing even now. God of all wisdom, Great Builder of movements, grant us the organizer’s brilliance of your Holy Spirit.
To sow in mutuality and reap solidarity, to nurture with advocacy, and harvest in liberation. We believe that you can go this, O God. We believe that you will increase justice in our lands and establish the good works of our hands. We believe that you can make us one, O Lord, that the freedoms we pursue might be truly intertwined and intersectional. We believe that by your resurrection power, by your plan of renewal, you will empower us to make the work of recognizing a common future is already done.
O Lord, hear the prayers of your people.
Scripture: Psalm 65, Psalm 16, Matthew 9
Watch: Jordan Casteel “Within Reach” Virtual Exhibition Tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yti011ZMUbA&feature=youtu.be
Music: Lord of the Harvest, Fred Hammond // Orange Moon, Erykah Badu
Artwork: Jonathan Green
Prayer Requests: https://forms.gle/n8SXo2TbySX3T2iE6
COVID-19 Prayer Calendar by Dominique Gilliard
https://dominiquegilliard.com/2020/03/22/covid-19-prayer-calendars/
More about the global average salary: BBC News 2012