Prayers of the Poor

Prayers of the Poor

By April McQueen

I can write true heartfelt prayers I’ve almost given up on.  Prayers can be like photographs, however, snapshots that freeze a moment, capturing time and telling a story without words, recording a feeling with no sound: equal access before the throne, after tears at the foot of the cross.  So, I’ll start sending up balloon-like prayers able to rise to great heights. Danger is present, nonetheless, and such prayers could explode the hope inside all over the place. 

The hope is real and alive…the fuel of dreams that never run out…persistence…  All of this is necessary but challenging to maintain.  It demands a patient heart and an advocate’s voice, brave not bitter, a leader from the people with a heart for them.  The leader serves at their pleasure, never without this awareness far from mind, always needing to strike a delicate balance between service and self. 

Remember truth rings out of a hollow bell, but echoes for all to hear. It is not often rung without compromise:  genuine thoughts and soul-searching discernment.  Sometimes when people decide to pray with their own needs in mind, they vow to make an exchange of private choice for something perceived as much greater in importance.  Living free is having many choices and knowing what and whom to listen to and how to hear.

A new power is available to all if they are open to it.  Still, so many stone hearts block progress in the name of self-righteousness and reason, without consideration for anything other than a personal agenda:  shades of gray in a complex community of shifting politics.  They have the power to push thoughts and situations back to a history of inequality.  Then it was easier to deny rights no matter how limited; ration opportunities that only circulated to the few; and withhold dignity, commonly considered to be a deserved, although hard-won, birthright, that has the greatest impact to those considered of least value. 

To see the holy in all humanity requires that one knows how to look and what to see; to wonder what was forced or fought for and who benefitted.  To master this is to know that the heart of the beast within does justice for some and brings tragedy for others. To excel in this environment means that one is glad that justice is blind. It is to recognize the need for her prospective beneficiaries to hold on tight as the world moves forward leaving some behind in its turns toward progress.  Trying to balance her scales for the process once set in motion is no easy feat.  What makes people do wrong and hurt others so badly that nothing affords them common sense? Or is it a momentary loss of insight to see that violence begets violence? The scales of justice swing out of sync.  Meanwhile, certain people are unable to remain on the path to truth. In the balance, they seldom achieve peace or prosperity.  Somehow, we must keep peace of mind within reach for both the vocal and the quiet who won or are owed a legal victory. 

More and more there is disorder. The progress of due process is becoming an uncivil civil movement.  It is emptied of any minimum but necessary kindness.  Without this, things will not move forward with the world as it spins.  Instead, we will lose something important: understanding for those who oppose us and an open mind not a deadly curse steeped in hatred when they argue for their beliefs and affirm their differences.  Gone will be the little touches it takes to be polite or cordial, show respect, and agree to disagree for nothing less gravely serious than liberty is at stake.