Listen

Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand. All the women followed her playing tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang the refrain back to them:

Sing to the Lord, for an overflowing victory!
Horse and rider he threw into the sea!

Exodus 15:20-21

Think

Miriam’s song, according to Rabbinic tradition, is what makes her a prophet. I imagine Miriam, standing on the shore, so overcome with joy and relief at the seeming end to her pain and her people’s oppression, that she can’t help but sing. She has to let it out, and allowing herself to express her sheer joy through music and dancing is what earned her a place in history as a prophetic witness to the works of God.

Have you ever felt so overcome with emotion that you just had to let it out? That you just had to sing, or shout, or scream, or write, or play music, or make art? Typically, when I’m feeling those big feelings, God calls on me to name them; to let them out in whatever way I can. When we’re brave enough to freely express our own joy and fear and pain and love, I wonder if we become prophets too, helping others to see God’s dream for our world and the Spirit’s movement in our lives.

Maggie Foote

Pray

Creator God, who empowers us in faith, be with us as we gather in a community of joy, comfort, and hope. Be with us as we celebrate our Regreso A Casa to a New Age of Faith. Let your spirit move through us to broaden our minds and open our hearts to one another. Send us from this place with your strength and courage to show the world your truth and accessibility so we may know our own dignity and belovedness. All this we ask through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Collect for #EYE23

Go

“We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.” (Madeleine L’Engle)

Breathe in: God calls me by name
Breath out: I am never alone

adapted from @blackliturgies on Instagram
by Cole Arthur Riley

Go forth choosing courage, finding ways to live out the values of love in how you interact with yourself, your family, your school, and your community. And in your going, remember: perhaps you were made for such a time as this.