SHANNON CRAIGO-SNELL

PRAYING RESISTANCE

Veterans

During the day, I pray a lot of "are you kidding me?!" type prayers, and a lot of "Please God protect" kind of prayers, and a fair number of "may the odor of skunk fill his nostrils day and night" sort of prayers. At night, I ask God to bless particular people or groups who are resisting the forces of hate and fear around us. It is a discipline that makes me notice those who are working for good, and to hold that which is positive in the light of God's mercy. I post them here

Clear Thinking

Dear God, please bless the writing teachers. They know the world does not need another batch of five page essays on Moby Dick. But they believe that learning how to construct a thesis statement, and a paragraph, and to connect subject with verb in a sentence, will help students learn how to think clearly. And the world desperately needs more clear thinkers. Bless the writing teachers with hope and patience, God. And while you're at it, grant some determination to the geometry

White Rose

Dear God, please bless all those whose resistance cannot be publicized. I have known many wonderful administrative assistants and secretaries in my life. They know how things get done. I have been thinking since November that there are women and men behind desks who will misfile things, forget attachments, or otherwise slow down the implementation of new unjust policies. Or perhaps make information known, when not doing so would endanger our democracy. These people probably w

Elders

Steadfast God, thank you for the elders in the struggle. I am thinking particularly of a woman at church who told me in November that we would have to take to the streets. An activist throughout the sixties, she is deeply troubled that she no longer has the physical strength to march. I am also thinking of an 83 year old man from the same congregation, who has been protesting for the first time in his life this year. He refuses to stand idly by while immigrants and refugees a

Coders

Dear God, please bless the coders working in Berkeley and some twenty other places around the country to preserve all the intricate scientific data that is now vulnerable to government erasure. They are "tagging and bagging" complex information that could help us prevent still more harm to the earth. They are tracking when data goes missing-- as some already has. Guard them, God, as they try to guard Your creation from willful stupidity. Give them insight, creativity, brillia

Todd G. May, Chenjerai Kumanyika, and Mike Sears

Dear God, I give thanks for all the schools across the country, from Ivy League universities to the Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky, that have publicly stated their commitment to immigrant, refugee, and international students. The current administration of the United States incites fear--fear that demands walls and divisions. Schools are not meant to house fear, but to nurture curiosity. God, you made us curious creatures. We long to know more. At our best, this i

Ninth Circuit

Holy God, tonight I want to pray for the judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I ask you--God of justice, mercy, and gratuitous love--to bless these persons, in that mysterious way that you do, providing what is needed even before the lack is felt. I've said that I will pray every evening for people who are resisting the destructive forces at work in the United States. I am wary that I might insult these judges by including them in these nightly

Persistence

Faithful and steadfast God, please bless every person who persists in talking about the sin of racism that plagues us. In our broken state, we are eager to be deceived, and so we willingly accept nonsense. We imagine that speaking about racism is impolite, and thereby allow racism to flourish. Thank you, God, that Coretta Scott King persisted in speaking and writing about racism, using her voice and pen to tell the truth and shame the devil. I ask that you guard and protect S

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