A Kwanzaa Prayer for Christian Services

Habari Gani? (which is Swahili for "What's the News?" )

Well, the news is it's the first day of Kwanzaa. While Christians will continue our journey through Christmastide, or the 12 days of Christmas, some of us will also celebrate Kwanzaa.

 I recently participated in a pre-Kwanzaa program where I wrote this prayer that followed a brief discussion about the Gullah-Geecchee culture. I'll likely pray this prayer differently in the future, but this is what God gave me for our gathering a few weeks ag0. 

 Feel free to use it as written, edit for your setting, or read it to inspire your own offering to God. Although Kwanzaa is a secular celebration, for African-American churches it can be beautifully incorporated into our settings. 

 "Faith" is the final principle celebrated on Jan. 1. May you keep the faith this season and continue to Look, Learn and LIVE!

  A Kwanzaa Prayer for Christian Services 

©2013 Arlecia D. Simmons  

Oh holy God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...

God of Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel...

The God who heard Hagar's cries as she sat with Ishmael in the wilderness...

Our God who heard our ancestors’ cries as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean in slave ships; heard their cries as they picked cotton and tobacco; heard their cries through the shouts of Lynch mobs. Our God.

We come (today, tonight) asking you to be in our midst as you have been from generation to generation. Come now, Holy Spirit

Lord, we thank you for allowing us to gather to worship you, and to celebrate the heritage passed down to us.

Even while experiencing the injustices of this life, our big mamas and papas proclaimed you as a just God. Calling on the name of Jesus, who was also a suffering servant.
Lord, we thank you for every prayer our ancestors ever prayed and how you answered them. We thank you for being the lifter of our heads when oppression, racism, segregation sought to keep them bowed down.

May we not be a forgetful people; forgetting our ancestors and forgetting your benefits. May we forever remember that if it had not been for the Lord who was on our side, where would be.

Touch now your people as we give back to you the gifts that you have given to us. 

Bless your children and those whose hands you have placed them in (Optional verse to be used when children are included during celebration). 

We offer this prayer, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Forgiveness: The Most Expensive Gift You Can Ever Give or Receive

The final column in my Advent series:


http://chronicle.augusta.com/node/570575

I Won't Crash...

As the year ends, we access the hard drives of our lives and find files saved using words such as disappointment, rejection, and failure. In some instances, we have encountered system failure while life events likened to Malware threatened to shut us all the way down. 

This morning as negative thoughts invaded my mind I did a quick reboot and embraced these words offered by the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. #Amen 

#Dontshutdownbeforetheupdates

Your Calling: Fire in Your Bones

I have wondered for years "What am I called to do?" That is, until I realized, it is that thing I can talk about nonstop because it's like igniting the fire shut up in my bones. 

For me it is communicating the Good News, which encompasses a variety of mediums. Whether I am preaching, teaching, writing, or educating on how my Gullah ancestors sang the Lord's song in a strange land, I am living out the fullest expression of myself. (Thanks, Ms. Oprah) For you it could be whatever and wherever you feel the Spirit at work, and just talking about it makes your cup run over. Fa True! #TapIntotheUnseenin2014

A Time To Forgive

During the holiday season, inevitably someone may encounter friends or loved ones who have wronged them in some way or another. Maybe it was the cousin who borrowed $1,000 of your student loan refund and then never began repayment, or a relative who touched you inappropriately during childhood?

Whatever the violation, you may be left struggling to figure out to navigate the rocky terrain of holiday fellowship. While I pray you seek the necessary counsel, I also encourage you to search your own hearts to see if there is even a microgram of forgiveness resting there.

Even in my own life as I have sought apologies from others, I have asked God to search my own heart. My heart and actions have not always been pure, and like King David I must now pray: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10). No, the road to forgiveness may not be a short one, and it’s likely unleveled with a few potholes.

Today, however, I am grateful that the path to forgiveness does not bear a “road closed” sign. Doctah Lele

Look, Live & Learn Registration is below! Can't wait to see you there! 

Reach Up!

Whether in the pit or in a safe space, it's always a good idea to Reach Up! Shared recently at a 7-Up program where there were 7 speakers/7 passages/5-10 minutes. Take a listen to the homily on Psalm 28:2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-40DXiQ2SlXRmdEZ0FGS3NaTWhUUVU4OVFYRFZBSllZRFdF/edit?usp=sharing

World AIDS Day 2013

Tonight Oprah Winfrey will interview Magic Johnson on Next Chapter and discuss the NBA Legend’s HIV diagnosis among other life events. Johnson’s announcement of his infection was made public in a press conference that I recall watching as a high school senior. In the 22 years since that announcement, much has changed as it relates to the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. While researchers may be getting closer to a cure, the pandemic is still adversely impacting women and people of color in the United States. In distant lands the disease is still leaving orphaned children who must care for themselves and siblings.

In March during a Red Pump Project awareness event (http://www.theredpumpproject.org/), I listened as a young Atlanta woman in her early 20s talked about contracting the disease and how her life has changed since that time. Although Johnson and the woman can share their stories with the masses, so many people are still undiagnosed and living with complications in silence.  I often sense that there is now a false sense of security as it relates to the disease, as some still dismiss the risk of unprotected sex with known and new partners.

It is my prayer that on this World AIDS Day, we not only remember those who have transitioned but also pray for those living with HIV/AIDS. I will speak the names of many close to me who have succumbed due to AIDS related complications, and encourage continued education and testing. Just because HIV/AIDS isn’t prominently placed on the media’s agenda does not mean AIDS has disappeared. I am reminded that what has disappeared are some of the people we loved whose lives were cut short by a disease that did not discriminate based on age, gender, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation.

As always, continue to look, live and learn more about HIV/AIDS. #ashe #gettested