Holy Mystery…
You have so many names.
The Torah calls you Creator,
the Quran calls you Peace,
the Gita calls you Destroyer,
the Dharma calls you Truth,
and the First Epistle of John calls you perhaps the most beautiful name of all: Love.
You are the strange love uniting all things. The love that drew elements together after that Big Bang; the love that drew life itself from those primordial oceans; the love that drew us all to this exact moment.
The love we were born of, the love we exist in, and the love we will one day return to.
In my faith, you expressed yourself through a barefoot rabbi who embodied your perfect love. A crucified carpenter who gave only two commandments: love God and love neighbor. Because there is no love of God without love of neighbor.
Help us love not just in word, but in action. Help us honor not just the name of Jesus, but the way of Jesus.
Help us…
free the oppressed,
feed the hungry,
house the homeless,
heal the sick,
release the prisoner,
welcome the stranger,
forgive the enemy,
and above all: protect your Creation.
The Word of God is Love. Let us not be hearers of your Word, but doers of your Word—in our families, in our communities, and in this chamber. Not just with prayers, but with policies. Not just personal love, but political love.
Because democracy is not just a constitution; democracy is a covenant.
Holy Mystery: open our minds, open our hearts, open our hands so that we may build a new world in the shell of the old. A world that is more just, more free, more whole, and more in love with you.
In all your many names, we pray. Amen.
— James Talarico, Texas
Without us all, we’re nothing!