Call to Arms
Our experiences at Justice General Assembly and in our own communities have taught us that the work of justice making is long haul work, work for our arms, our feet, our voices, and our hearts. Rev. Marta I. Valentín offered us this prayer as we awaited the Supreme Court decision, and it is just as pertinent now as it was before General Assembly -Ed.
Hear us as we ask that you
hold the collective anxiety
that permeates this fear-filled situation.
This is a call to arms.
Arms that will hold broken hearts,
and elated hearts
arms that wrap themselves around
a body, beaten and disfigured
in truth and metaphorically…
Arms that provide a strength
neither giver nor receiver
knew they possessed…
Arms that hold up
the sky of misplaced authority
and righteousness
from crashing down upon heads
struggling to be held high
as each shred of dignity is yanked
from their tired, over-used,
under-appreciated bodies.
This is a call for committed arms
to continue leading heads
and hearts
to know the facts
but feel the truth,
a call to remember
that the freedom we’ve been given
to swing our arms as wide and open
to the sun as we like
has come on the backs of humans
others wish were invisible.
This is a call to arm
ourselves with the facts
but feel the truth
borne out of the power of our
Unitarian Universalist love
and the balance of justice.
Marta I. Valentín
March 29, 2012
Rev. Marta I. Valentín is the minister at First Church Unitarian in Littleton, Massachusetts