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A Prayer for Holy Soles: In Honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we’re sharing this prayer from Rev. Dr. Michael W. Waters from his new book, Something in the Water: A 21st Century Civil Rights Odyssey.
A PRAYER FOR HOLY SOLES
Dear God,
A PRAYER FOR HOLY SOLES
Dear God,
teach me to pray
with my feet.
The steps of the ancestors were sturdy and strong.
The steps of the ancestors were sturdy and strong.
They somehow carried them to cut down strange fruit
dangling in the breeze.
Up and down Montgomery’s hills,
To mass meetings, lunch counters, and courthouses
To face canines, tear gas, and water hoses
As bullets and bombs wrought martyrs,
Their blood still crying out from the deep.
LORD God,
LORD God,
teach me to pray with my feet.
For those felled while adorned with hoodie, for those who still can’t breathe, for those whose hearts have been broken under the weight of fathers suffocated on the street,
For those felled while adorned with hoodie, for those who still can’t breathe, for those whose hearts have been broken under the weight of fathers suffocated on the street,
with hands raised,
“Don’t shoot!”
For Water Protectors,
For Flint,
For Women,
For Refugees,
For Hijab-wearing Sisters and their Brothers,
For the Dreamers,
LORD God Almighty,
LORD God Almighty,
teach me how to pray
with my feet,
That I might become a drum major for justice,
That I might become a drum major for justice,
To march around Jericho’s walls
And monuments to White Supremacy,
Till they come stumbling down;
That I might say,
As did Mother Pollard to young Martin,
“My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.”
And that You, LORD God almighty,
May one day say to me,
“You have beautiful feet.”
Amen.
Amen.
The Reverend Dr. Michael W. Waters is founding pastor of Abundant Life African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Dallas, Texas. As a pastor, professor, award-winning author, activist, and social commentator, his words of hope and empowerment inspire national and international audiences. He is the author of two Chalice Press books, Stakes is High: Race, Faith, and Hope for America and the newly released Something in the Water: A 21st Century Civil Rights Odyssey. Watch the book trailer here.