I was honored to offer the Prayer of Invocation for the New Boston City Council on January 1, 2024 at Boston City Hall. The City of Boston charter states that the City Council must convene on the first Monday of January at 12pm noon, hence Monday January 1, 2024 this year. Tradition holds that the Dean of the Council may invite a cleric of their choosing to offer a prayer, and so Dean Liz Breadon invited me to offer the prayer.
This meeting was especially important as the Council was electing their new President, after swearing in new members to a new two-year term. At-Large Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune was elected unanimously, and thus became the first Haitian-American to serve in this leadership role in Boston. This was especially poignant as January 1 also marks Haitian Independence Day. The celebration continued afterwards with traditional “soup joumou” in city council chambers. May we all feast.
Hear these words from the Prophet Isaiah, the 43rd chapter, verses: 15- 21
I am the Lord, your Holy One,
The Creator of Israel, your King.
Thus says the Lord,
Who makes a way in the sea,
A path in mighty waters,
Who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
They lie down, they cannot rise,
They are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
Do not remember the former things,
Or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me,
The jackals and the ostriches;
For I give water in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert,
To give drink to my chosen people,
The people whom I formed for myself
So that they might declare my praise.
Let us pray:
Holy One,
Your people humble themselves to pause before so audacious a task as governance to remember that we are not gods. We did not create the waters or mountains, the hills or the deserts. We did not create this building, this city, this earth upon which we stand.
Your people humble themselves to pause before so audacious a task as governance to remember that we are not gods, and to awe at the new thing about to begin. The prophet asks us to stop. To wait. To slow down and see where we have been. To remember that it is You who brought us through the mighty waters. You who parted the seas. You who made a way when there was no way. We pause to remember where we have been.
And because you are a gracious God, because this is a new year, because we are a new people gathered for a new task, the prophet proclaims, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.”
Form this body, O God, into a new people. Form this assembled body, O God, into a new council. Do a new thing, O Lord. Give to each gathered sufficient portion of courage to hold fast to their convictions; humility to acknowledge when they are in error; wisdom to seek counsel for that which they do not know; kindness to meet every other person they encounter as if they are encountering the Messiah themself; patience to meet the enduring work for systemic change; and grace to forgive when they are wronged.
Most of all, O God, give this body the joy and the imagination to dream as You dream. Let the image of the prophet Isaiah be painted in their waking and their sleeping, water in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert; Give drink to the people who have thirsted for healing and justice. Give songs in the weary throats of people parched for so long.
God give this assembled body the joy to dream together, to imagine together, to cast a vision together of life abundant for all your people across this city. You who make a way in the wilderness, you who make rivers in the desert. You who say there is enough for all. You who promise we can cast off the carceral mindset and seek liberation not as a commodity to possess but a joy to be shared. Help us, O Lord, believe in this abundance so much that we need not cling, but share. We need not hoard, but offer. We need not possess, but free.
Do this new thing, O God. Make us new, O Lord. Bless this body, this council, each person gathered under the sound of my voice.
Remake us God. Reform us, God. Make us new and make us one. Reshape our imagination to see what you are already doing. Help us see the fountains springing forth in the desert. Let us run to the waters and rejoice at the springs. We know you by many names. I claim you again, my rock and my redeemer, Jesus Christ, Alleluia, Ashé, Amen.
RevEverett 