God of equality and justice, today, we remember the evolving struggles of women to prove our equality.
Carter Heyward, in her poem, Passion for Justice says:
Then God, gathering up her courage in love, said, “Let there be bread!”
And God’s sisters, her friends and lovers,
Knelt on the Earth,
Planted the seeds,
Prayed in the rain,
Sang for the grain,
Made the harvest,
Cracked the wheat,
Pounded the corn,
Kneaded the dough,
Kindled the fire,
Filled the air
With the smell of fresh bread—
And there was bread!
And it was good!
And so, today, we lift our prayer, and our glasses, to those spirit-filled women through the ages, of one hundred years ago, who poured out the wine of their lives, their dreams, their prayers, their struggles to make way for our freedom to vote and to determine our own identity. We take time to give thanks for those women whose lives were stirred and transformed by a faith in what they could not see- those who became bearers of hope, healing, justice, and peace for us and for our world. We hold them in our hearts, remember their stories, and invoke God’s ever-creative Spirit to stir our lives to continue to work for the emancipation of all people who are still held in bondage to disrespect and injustice. We pray in God’s name.—AMEN.
(Passion for Justice by Carter Heyward and Sacred Journeys by Jan Richardson)