Prayer Response to the Trayvon Martin Verdict

One:    How long, O Lord? How long?

One:     How long until we can send our sons and daughters into the world without fearing they will be gunned down?

One:     How long until we can rest easy, knowing that our criminal justice system lives up to its name and calling?

One:    How long until we stop waiting for a savior, celebrating the lives and legacy of those who have gone before while shaking our heads that there is no one here, in our day, to lead us through this valley of the shadow of death?

One:    How long until we live in a world where we can stop talking about race and racism – not because we mistakenly believe “it’s in the past” – but because it is really, truly, finally, in the past?

Many:   Oh, God, how long?

One:     We want to believe, like Dr. King, that it’s “not long,” for we know that hope is our only life preserver in this deep sea of despair.

One:    But some of us have been waiting an awfully long time already, God. Some of us watched the work of Dr. King from TVs in our living rooms – as children, as adults. We have been waiting and watching for an eternity already.

One:    And some of us, O God, were not yet born when Dr. King spoke his words of hope. His life is ancient history to us. And we writhe in discomfort and anger when we realize that his dream – this simple dream that a boy could walk to the store to buy some Skittles and return home unharmed – has been a long time coming.

Many: How can we continue to say “not long” when the wait has already been so very long?

Oh, God, let this be a moment in history where we commit ourselves to working for justice, no matter how long it takes. Let us stand, here and now, in memory of one of your beloved children – Trayvon Martin. Let us promise, here and now, that we will no longer sit idly by, waiting for a new savior. We are the ones, O God. We are the ones to make the changes, large and small, which will bring about the day when justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.

One:    We are the ones.

Many:  And so, with you by our side – above us, below us, behind us, in front of us, within us, beyond us – we pick up the mantle. We are the ones. Let it be so. Amen.