Celebrations (4 page)

To your parents,

in whose immense realm of love

you have been clasped and claimed,

you are still the tender-tough boy,

yet in your face, they see already the promise
of the man you are becoming.

To them

you are too eager to step into the new land,

too ready to share the responsibility

with the citizens of your new country.

Some of your beloveds
are longing to hold you back in the safe arms
of childhood,

where errant behavior could meet with soft
admonishment,

where most injuries could be made better by
a mother’s kiss,

but even now you are leaning away toward
the horizon

with one foot raised to step forward.

None can stop you, none can stay you.

Please know,

prayers lay in the road where you will plant
your feet.

Please know
that aspirations of your family are high at
your back, and surround you entirely.

Please know

that great hopes of your devoted shower
you with

ardent wishes for your being and for your
future.

Your beloveds

know that you are entering a nation

where you must learn the difference

between seeking after justice

and lusting for revenge.

They know also

that you will meet those who would be kind

if only they had the courage, and

those who would do evil

if only they had the opportunity.

You will be bathed in the morning dew of
truth

and you will drink down the brackish water of
false witness.

Be wary, my nephew, but fear only God,

for you have a limitless resource of powerful
love

to evoke and call forth

and I,

prompt with all your primed and loving
family,

await your summons.

We are born in pain, then relief comes.

We are lost in the dark, then day breaks.

We are confused, confounded, and fearful,

Then faith takes our hand.

We stumble and fumble and fall,

Then, we rise.

Into each of our meanest nights, you
have arrived,

Oh, Lord,

Creator,

To lead us away from our ignorance

And into knowing.

Now, we gather at your altar,

Rich and poor, young and

Achingly old,

We are the housed and the homeless,

We are the lucky,

And the lazy.

As if at the foot

Of an ancient baobab tree,

In this moment

We gather to stand, kneel, sit, squat, and
crumple here,

Knowing that, when the medical geniuses

Have done their best,

When the Nobel Prize Winners

Have used their most powerful energy,

We have You.

Creator,

We bring to You

Our brothers, sons, fathers, uncles,

Nephews, cousins, beloved, and friends.

We place the body of Luther Vandross

And the body of Barry

White Here before You.

They are among the best we have

And You are all we have.

Heal, we pray.

Heal, we pray.

Heal us all,

We pray.

Father Mother God, thank You for Your
presence during the hard and mean days.
For then we have You to lean upon.

Thank You for Your presence during the
bright and sunny days, for then we can
share that which we have with those who
have less.

And thank You for Your presence during the
Holy Days, for then we are able to
celebrate You and our families and our
friends.

For those who have no voice, we ask You
to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask You
to pour Your love out in waterfalls of
tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask You to
bathe them in the river of Your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask You to keep
them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask You to
shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of
substance, we ask You to give to all the
world that which we need most—Peace.

Amen.

Brandon Bailey

Johnson Caylin Nicole Johnson

Elliott Jones

Lydia Stuckey