Today, we park and pray at 1:11 pm.
We mourn her passing.
We celebrate her life.
We remember her opinions, her acts, and her compassion.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a Notorious Rapper, a mighty force, and a voice with a bullhorn message.
She was a righteous and precious Pearl of Hope.
A Mustard Seed who grew beyond her challenges.
Thank God for her presence during our lifetime.
Well done good and faithful servant.
Notorious R.BG., she fought, and she won the hearts of many.
She’s blessed with rest and with a fulfilled promise of peace eternal.
Farewell to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
We will remember you among the Pearls of Hope shining ever so bright.
Remembering 911
The Flag Within
By Renay Ingram
(Excerpts from her book)There’s a flag within me
A flag within you
True patriotic red, white, and blueFreedom
Justice
EqualityDemocracy
HarmonyThese ideals mark
our collective reality …Flags waving high
Arms extended to the sky above
Flag draped low
Citizens appreciate the freedoms
they have grown to love and knowFrom Ground Zero to Ground Hero
Living memorials to the deceased
Funeral pits are grave sights
Charitable acts erase or ease
enduring pain and grief…People are seeking a life worth completely living
People are seeking a shift away from previous norms
People are working to establish a higher sense of right
People want relief from the recent shocking storms
Flaunting this emblem conscientiously is one response
to the massive tragediesBy providing thoughts of comfort, solace, faith or a chance to trace our heritage’s grace
These journeys must be made today
As streams of tears flood innocent faces
We focus our deeds of courageous acts
helping the beseiged with our hands and our hearts
Aiding those who are in needYet duty’s call cannot replace
The afflicted lives dissolved by ashes laced
with weapons of hate and mass destruction
Victim’s families will never see or touch
the cherished lost ones who are treasured so much…Flags marking street corners are reminders of pride
As people march humbly, walk soberly, or somberly rideIn or to parades, memorials, vigils and funerals
Some pause to ask questions wanting, pleading to know why
while shedding endless criesFlags of hope, courage, bravery and strength
Flags of valor distinctly marking this day forwardAs people hold on to victory’s crest
certain the flag’s precepts will move everyone onwardBut onward to what place? What place and where?
The public has stopped to ask these imperative questions sbecause they sincerely care…
A Prayer by Howard Thurman
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Your altar!
The quietness in Your temple of silence again and again rebuffs us:
For some there is no discipline to hold them steady in the waiting,
And the minds reject the noiseless invasion of Your spirit.
For some there is no will to offer what is central in the thoughts—
The confusion is so manifest, there is no starting place to take hold.
For some the evils of the world tear down all concentrations
And scatter the focus of the high resolves.
We do not know how to do what we know to do.
We do not know how to be what we know to be.
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Your altar!
Pour out upon us whatever our spirits need of shock, of life, of release
That we may find strength for these days—
Courage and hope for tomorrow.
In confidence we rest in Your sustaining grace
Which makes possible triumph in defeat, gain in loss, and love in hate.
We rejoice this day to say:
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Your altar!
https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/poetry-prayers-visual-arts/prayers-for-today-howard-thurman/
Let us Park and Pray at 1:11
