category: Emerging Church, Poetry, Prayer

Wake Up!

By Rachael Keefe

Wake up, Sweet Jesus! Wake up! We are perishing. Do you not care? I cry out these words when I hear of senseless, violent death …When a transperson is murdered or takes their own life …When a young man with a gun kills nine who were engaged in Bible study …

Wake Up!

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Wake up, Sweet Jesus! Wake up! We are perishing. Do you not care?

I cry out these words when I hear of senseless, violent death
…When a transperson is murdered or takes their own life
…When a young man with a gun kills nine who were engaged in Bible study and prayer
…When boats filled with refugees and migrants sink
…When heroin claims another life
…When undocumented people are detained endlessly
…When drought threatens farmlands and floods claim lives and homes
…When people live on the streets hungry and homeless
…When cities whose names I can hardly pronounce are bombed
Please, Lord Jesus, wake up and speak the words that will bring peace.

high-water-392707_1920Wake up, Sweet Jesus! Wake up! We are perishing. Do you not care? Why do you remain silent?

With this lament on my lips, the words come back to me.

You, my Beloved, wake up. You are perishing. You remain silent. Do you not care?
…When a transperson is bullied or tormented or murdered
…When racism fuels the insanity that takes the life of nine innocents
…When refugees and migrants are so desperate for a home that they risk dying at sea
…When the uncertainties of life drive a person to use heroin rather than living
…When those seeking a better life find only imprisonment
…When drought doesn’t touch your life or floods destroy communities far from yours
…When people who are homeless are overlooked and avoided
…When bombs are dropped in foreign lands
I speak words of peace. When will you be still and listen?

Wake up, Beloved Children, Body of Christ! Wake up! We are perishing. Do we not care?

We know what is needed. Let us awaken to the Way of Peace
…When a transperson needs compassion and love
…When people of color need comfort, hospitality, and justice
…When refugees and migrants need sanctuary and welcome
…When people with addictions need hope, help, and healing
…When undocumented immigrants need asylum and welcome
…When Creation needs care, concern, and stewardship
…When those who are homeless need recognition and mercy
…When victims of war need shelter, peace, and safety
May we embody the Word of Peace, calming the storms generated by fear, ignorance, apathy, greed, and foolishness.ship-716778_1920

Wake up, Body of Christ! Wake up! We are perishing.

Amen.

RCL – Year B – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – June 21, 2015
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 with Psalm 9:9-20 or
Job 38:1-11 with Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41

Photos from Pixabay.com. Used with permission.

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About Rachael Keefe

Rachael is an author, a pastor, a teacher, and a poet. Her latest book (The Lifesaving Church - Chalice Press) is on faith and suicide prevention. She is currently the pastor of Living Table UCC in Minneapolis, and has launched a spiritual direction practice.

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