by Marcia Mount Shoop
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
“Our faith requires the courage to claim
Just how awake God needs us to be
This kind of woke is wise to the trauma
That makes sleep a frightening prospect
That tells us the stupor of whiteness is suspect
It’s not a catch phrase,
It’s an anthem of promise and pain
It’s the truth of a people who long to be free
Who are seasoned enough to know
That means all of us–all the you’s and all the me’s
We cannot sleep, siblings in Christ,
On God’s call for us to care for each other
As we traverse this long road to liberation,
This journey to a land promised
By the visions God births in our
Dreaming and in our sober acknowledgement
A world that longs for a peace and tranquility
That is not the eerie aftermath of conquest,
But the joyful unfolding of repair that is true
The harmony of human being in tune
With our shared future, with our deep
Need for each other to truly thrive”
Watch the full GCPC service on 11/19/23 here
(Scripture and sermon begin at 46:00)