Included among the book of prayers by and for children published by The Children’s Defense Fund is the prayer of a young boy uttered just before setting out on a road race. He looked down at his feet before he started up the rugged way so many had run before him, and so many who would run it after him. Looking at his feet he prayed, “Lord, you pick ‘em up, and I’ll put ‘em down. You pick ‘em up, and I’ll put ‘em down.”

A plain statement of faith, trust, expectation, and resolve I keep in mind as I confront again and again the urgent call to take up my place on the path towards justice, peace, and respecting the dignity of every human being—past, present, and yet to come. 

My Diocese stands on the unceded ancestral lands of the Lennai- Lenape nation—Holy Ground, stolen by settlers, scarred by slavers, lorded over, appropriated, partitioned, and red-lined into oppressions that abide to this day.  There is a sacred necessity to make amends for a past that has constructed our present. 

Confronting the perpetration of the gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity, first on Indigenous Nations and then on African slaves and their descendants, is a moral imperative. 

Do our baptismal vows to God embolden us to repair the darkness of our brutal past which shadows the brilliance of our shared futures? Does our baptismal covenant with one another charge us to persevere, with determination, with courage, with conviction, with hope, and with one another’s companionship on this rugged road to justice? 

When seeking deliverance from oppression, the prophet Isaiah said to his people, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the one who brings good news, who publishes peace, who proclaims glad tidings of good things…” (Is 52:7).

Let us rise to our feet and strive to repair the pain perpetrated. Let us rise to our feet and stride towards justice and genuine equity. No, it is not an easy road, yet how beautiful arethe feet of those who publish peace! Lord, you pick ‘em up, and we’ll out ‘em down. You pick ‘em up, and we’ll put ‘em down.