Poem Prayer for Today

 

Tomorrow you might be planning a picnic or to fire up the grill or to send fireworks up into the sky.  Tomorrow you might reflect on what it means to call this plot of land home, this rock called “earth” hurling through space.  Tomorrow you might lament the struggles we face, especially divisions and cynicism.  Tomorrow you might sing songs with people you’ve never met but realize are fellow citizens.  Tomorrow you might wonder about the election coming up.  Tomorrow you might think about how far we’ve come as people in the experiment of democracy and how far we must go.  And today, I offer you this beautiful poem and prayer from Langston Hughes

 

I, Too

 

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

 

My prayer is that we, as a country, find a place at the table for all; for at the center of our faith is Christ inviting all to the feast of God.  Amen.