Opening and Closing Bank

Our opening reading is from Steve Biko, a South African activist against apartheid. In the midst of that incredible struggle for human dignity and equality, he wrote: 

We regard our living together
not as an unfortunate mishap 
warranting endless competition among us 
but as a deliberate act of God to make us a community…
jointly involved in the quest 
for a composite answer 
to the varied problems of life.

God who is known by many names,
Spirit of Life and Love, 
We are grateful for this unique opportunity to be together,
To share honestly about our lives and our struggles, our principles and our hopes.
 
Be with us on this journey: 
Towards the goal of individual and collective healing.
Towards the goal of individual and collective liberation. 
 
Amen. 

Vision from the Blue Plane-Window
Ernesto Cardenal

In the round little window, everything is blue,
land bluish, blue-green, blue
(and sky)
everything is blue
blue lakes and lagoons
blue volcanoes
while farther off the land looks bluer
blue islands in a blue lake.
This is the face of the land liberated.
And where all the people fought, I think:
for love!
To live without the hatred
of exploitation.
To love one another in a beautiful land
so beautiful, not only in itself
but because of the people in it,
above all because of the people in it.
That’s why God gave us this beautiful land
for the society in it.
And in all those blue places they fought, suffered
for a society of love
here in this land.
One patch of blue looks more intense…
And I thought I was seeing the sites of all the battles there,
and of all the deaths,
behind that small, round windowpane
blue
all the shades of blue.

From Pluriverse, by Ernesto Cardenal, translated by Jonathan Cohen. Copyright © 2009. Used by permission of New Directions. All rights reserved.

blessing the boats by Lucille Clifton

(at St. Mary’s)
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that

From Quilting: Poems 1987–1990 by Lucille Clifton. Copyright © 2001 by Lucille Clifton. Reprinted with permission of BOA Editions Ltd. All rights reserved.

Our opening is a meditation from Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bethesda, MD. This was originally created for their Service on Reproductive Justice in 2022 and has deep wisdom to ground those of us deepening our engagement with Reproductive Justice.

Meditation from January 30, 2022 Service on Reproductive Justice

On what would have been the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, Reproductive Justice leaders met to envision a new future for Reproductive Jusice. SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective convened this summit. We will use a portion of the SisterSong Visioning New Futures statement (https://www.sistersong.net/visioningnewfuturesforrj) as a responsive reading for our closing. You can read it in unison, responsively, or have each person read a line.

We choose us. We invoke the spirit of our ancestors who cleared the path for us, the comrades who fight alongside us today, and those who will fight beyond us, who will become our greatest dreams.

We reclaim the demands of Reproductive Justice that our Black foremothers named nearly 30 years ago:

The human right to own our bodies and control our future

The human right to have children

The human right to not have children, and

The human right to parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. 

We are still fighting for these rights to be real in our lives; we know things are not okay. We have a lot of work to do. 

We need you to join our fight so we can make this dream a reality.

How do you know if this movement is for you?

If you’ve ever felt shamed during conversations about sex, sexuality, or pregnancy instead of receiving the support and information you desired — this movement is for you.

If you have ever had abortions, thought about having an abortion, supported someone having an abortion, loved someone who has had abortions – this movement is for you.

If you’ve ever felt targeted or criminalized for your labor, including doing sex work for pay — this movement is for you.

If you’re a parent, a mama, an auntie, an abuela, a transgender dad – this movement is for you.

If you love to have sex and pleasure with consent – this movement is for you.

If you are a man, cisgender, straight, queer or transgender, who is ready to move with us and trust Black Women — this movement is for you.

If you’ve survived state, sexual, interpersonal, or other violence, and exploitation – this movement is for you.

If you are a person of faith – this movement is for you.

If you are undocumented – this movement is for you.

If you are queer, transgender, nonbinary, or gender-expansive – this movement is for you.

If you are a young person if you are an elder, or anywhere in between – this movement is for you.

If you are a healthcare provider who supports all the tenets of reproductive justice – this movement is for you.

If you are disabled or have not had your accessibility needs met in your community or in a medical space – this movement is for you.

If you know, from experience, how important it is to be able to vote, feed our families, be paid a livable wage, drink safe water, and live in safe and affordable housing – this movement is for you.

We need to keep our communities safe against the rising tide of hate and violence. We need to join in a global uprising for global liberation.

We will not be silenced. We will take up all the space we need. We will lead with love. We will reclaim our power for ourselves, our beautiful families, our children, and the generations to come.

Amen, Ameen, Amein, Aho, Axé oooo, and so it is.

I invite you to close your eyes or turn them gently downward. Sit comfortably in a chair. Tune into your breath and to your body. 

Let’s say this breath prayer together, adapted from the work of Cole Arthur Riley (https://colearthurriley.com/writing/project-one-64g3t), the creator and writer of Black Liturgies— a project that integrates spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black literature, and the Black body.

As you breathe in, recite to yourself in your mind and heart:
If I am not in my body…
As you breathe out, recite to yourself in your mind and heart:
 …someone else is.

Let the participants do this for 1-2 minutes, encouraging them to return to these words, their breath, and their bodies every 20-30 seconds. Then, invite them to gently blink their eyes open and return to the space of community. 

Let’s end with another breath prayer as we reflect on our learning today. 

Once again, close your eyes or turn them gently downward. Sit comfortably in a chair. Tune into your breath and to your body.

As you breathe in, recite to yourself in your mind and heart:
I breathe in that this body is sacred.
As you breathe out, recite to yourself in your mind and heart:
I breathe out all the messages that bind me. 

Let the participants do this for 1-2 minutes, encouraging them to return to these words, their breath, and their bodies every 20-30 seconds. Then, invite them to gently blink their eyes open and return to the space of community.

Affirmations

Invite participants to hold their hands over their hearts or abdomens as they recite these words in unison: 

• My body is a sacred gift.
• My sexuality is a sacred gift. 
• My reproductive journey is a sacred gift. 

Invite participants to turn to someone next to them and recite these words:

• I affirm your body is a sacred gift.
• I affirm your sexuality is a sacred gift.
• I affirm your reproductive journey is a sacred gift.

As we speak these truths, we affirm and celebrate the beautiful diversity of sacred bodies, sexualities, and reproductive journeys in this space and around the world.

As we speak these truths, we affirm that all people, no matter the circumstances of their lives, deserve to be honored in their bodies, sexualities and reproductive journeys.

Litany of Healing (read in unison)

We suffer because of the pain, brokenness, oppression and loss of meaning that too many experience about their sexuality.

We yearn for our spiritual community to celebrate the goodness of creation, our bodies and our sexualities.

We suffer when this sacred gift is abused or exploited.

We affirm that sexually-just relationships express love, justice, mutuality, commitment, consent, and pleasure.

We suffer because of discrimination against people because of sex, gender identity, color, age, bodily condition, marital status or sexual orientation.

We long for a world that reflects God’s love for all of creation.

We suffer because of violence against women, children and sexual minorities. 

We ache for theologies that help us heal the world instead of causing harm. 

We know that sexuality is God’s life-giving and life-fulfilling gift. 

We desire healing that will help us bear one another in love as we learn together how to celebrate God’s gift of sexuality with holiness and integrity. 

Amen, Ameen, Amein, Aho, Axé oooo, and so it is

Radical Gratitude Spell, adrienne maree brown
Also found in Pleasure Activism, 2019, p. 401-2
Watch a video of adrienne maree brown reading this spell: https://www.instagram.com/adriennemareebrown/p/CIrrErTgBwJ/ 

a spell to cast upon meeting a stranger, comrade, or friend working for social and/or environmental justice and liberation:

you are a miracle walking
i greet you with wonder 
in a world which seeks to own 
your joy and your imagination 
you have chosen to be free, 
every day, as a practice. 
i can never know
the struggles you went through to get here, 
but i know you have swum upstream 
and at times it has been lonely

i want you to know
i honor the choices you made in solitude 
and i honor the work you have done to 
belong
i honor your commitment to that which is 
larger than yourself 
and your journey
to love the particular container of life 
that is you

you are enough 
your work is enough 
you are needed 
your work is sacred 
you are here 
and i am grateful

A Prayer of Connected Commitments

Facilitator Note: Bring the ball of yarn to the circle.

Today’s content invited us to reflect on our personal transformation and where we are being invited into new or different actions in order to deepen our commitment to Reproductive Justice.

As you join the circle, identify one concrete commitment that you will share with the whole group. 

Once gathered, each person will be asked to share your commitment, and then pass a ball of yarn. One of you will start with the ball of yarn, share your commitment, and then invite someone else to share by saying their name and passing or tossing the ball of yarn to them. MAKE SURE TO HOLD THE STRING BEFORE YOU PASS IT. We’re making a web. Each person continues this pattern, holding onto a piece of the string as the ball is passed around the room. If the ball is passed back and forth across the circle, your group will have an interconnected web of commitments. Before releasing the yarn, invite a few final reflections from the group. Ask: How does it feel to see all of our commitments connected like this? 

Finally, invite folks to cut the yarn they are holding in their hands so each person can take a piece as a reminder of their commitment.

Virtual Facilitation: Invite each person to share their commitment one by one through mutual invitation. Once you have shared your commitment, invite someone else to share until all have gone.

Option 1: Video: Plum Village App “Free Yourself | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh” – Buddhist mindfulness and regaining self/agency amidst overwhelm and suffering (5:08) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgQmpTiWedw

Option 2: Prayer (Also closing for Module 1)

God who is known by many names,
Spirit of Life and Love, 
We are grateful for this unique opportunity to be together,
To share honestly about our lives and our struggles, our principles and our hopes.

Be with us on this journey: 
Towards the goal of individual and collective healing.
Towards the goal of individual and collective liberation. 

Amen. 

In Emergent Strategy adrienee maree brown offers the practice of “next best step.” Often we cannot see the full plan, or we need to pivot or shift gears. At times like these we can turn to the question: What is our next best step? To help maintain momentum. This question can be used over and over again, always being helpful 

Sharing Prompt:

Considering the areas of focus that we just named for our community. What is your next best step to help your local community deepen their commitments to Reproductive Justice? 

Seal the closing with a breathing exercise, prayer, song, or reading, like the one below:

Leader: For a world where bigotry and oppression prevent so many people from living joyfully and openly:

Response: Let us create loving, justice-seeking faith communities where shame, judgment, and stigma have no place. 

Leader: For a world where God and theology have so often been used as weapons of harm:  

Response: Let us create loving, justice-seeking faith communities where shame, judgment, and stigma have no place. Leader: 

For all the people and communities in need of healing and wholeness,          

Everyone: Let us create loving, justice-seeking faith communities where shame, judgment, and stigma have no place. 

Blessed Be/Amen/Language of your choosing. 

Lectio divina is a contemplative reading practice rooted in the Catholic tradition. However, in this session, this ritual will be adapted to our purposes here. The goal of this practice is to read a passage slowly and carefully, allow space for inspiration around the concepts in the text (i.e. think about its meaning), and then contemplate the question, “What is the passage asking me to do?” We will use the SACReD Principles as our text. Invite three different voices to read the text out loud to the group, following the prompt below. 

Each reader should remind the participants what they are focusing on for that round. Then they should read the passage below. Each reader should take their time reading and allow about 30 seconds of silence between each round. After the final round, allow a full minute to pass before moving on to the check-in. 

SACReD Principles 

We affirm the following SACReD guiding principles: 

• All creation is good and includes a beautiful diversity of sacred bodies, sexualities, and reproductive journeys.
• The dignity of sacred bodies and the moral agency of all people deserve respect, including the bodily autonomy and agency of women, queer people, gender diverse people, people with disabilities, immigrants, Indigenous populations, and people of color who have often been denied this respect. 
• Pregnancy can be unintentional, but parenting is a sacred journey that requires intentional discernment. Prayerful decisions to have children, to not have children, or to end a pregnancy are equally moral.

It Is Our Turn to Carry the World 
adrienne maree brown
https://adriennemareebrown.net/2025/01/20/it-is-our-turn-to-carry-the-world/

a community safety ritual: write down or bring to mind the names of those you commit to protecting, specific names, and targeted groups of people. it can be a long list or a short one, it just needs to be a true commitment for you. 

we are each other’s safety 
right now, and every day
decide who you will protect
yourself, your own and who else

it’s time to cover all that we love
land, creature, place, person
intertwine your roots with mine
in this way our lives become miracles

there will be strangers
they will become comrades
we will each say our needs
we will learn to let community come closer

every part of us is a shield
our words, our trust, our hearts
our bodies in action
and the freedom to think for ourselves

we are the adaptation
no oppressor can imagine
our love is water – form-shifting power, river, vapor, life
we flood each other with belonging

we are building our stamina
we dream of the real world
we carry god, and see god, in each of our faces
your holiness is not too heavy, not for me

our attention and courage 
show us the next stand to take
the next hill on which to hold each other
and if needed, the next hiding place: survive!

our imagination and memory
find the wisdom of our ancestors
find our future in the rubble
find the seeds in our songs

we choose our freedom
we keep each other’s souls intact
safer than any cage of empire
we know something better is coming

we are each other’s safety 
we see each other’s freest selves
we will hold on tight, in public, in private
over and underground

and we will never let go 
we will never let go 
we will never let go 
we will never let go 

now take that piece of paper and memorize it – that is your spell of community safety. when you have it in your tongue and bones, bury it into dirt you love so the earth holds this commitment with you, with us.

axé oooo, ameen, amen, aho, and so it is

bell hooks – “Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation.”

Inclusive Welcome

Litany – Responsive Reading for SACReD Congregations by Emma Akpan

Libations

Let us give thanks for all those who have come before acting on the behalf of Reproductive Justice. Have participants name people for whom they do this work, or people who inspired them to do this work. With each name spoken, pour a small portion of water into the plant. 

Materials needed: a live plant, pitcher of water. 

Visio Divina Practice

Bring an image or piece of visual art into the space for contemplation. Visio Divina means divine seeing. It allows us to encounter the divine through images. Invite participants into multiple rounds of reflection with a different focus on each step.

1. Look at the image and let your eyes stay with the first thing you see. Focus your attention on the part of the image that first catches your eye. Try to keep your eyes from wandering to other parts of the picture. Breathe deeply and let yourself gaze at that part of the image for a minute or so.
2. Let your eyes now gaze at the whole image. Take your time and look at every part of the photograph. See it all. Reflect on the image for a minute or so
3. Consider the following questions:
   1. What emotions does this image evoke in you?
   2. What does the image stir up or bring forth in you?
   3. Does this image lead you into an attitude of prayer or meditation? If so, let these prayers take form in you. You can write them down if you wish.
4. Take a final moment of silence in prayer or set an intention based on what the image brought up for you.

Wesleyan Examen

• How is it with your soul?
• How are you loving God? 
• How are you loving your neighbor?

Excerpt from Toni Morrison’s Beloved

“Here,” she said, “in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh. They despise it. They don’t love your eyes; they’d just a soon pick em out. No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it. And O my people they do not love your hands. Those they only use, tie, bind, chop off and leave empty. Love your hands! Love them. Raise them up and kiss them. Touch others with them, pat them together, stroke them on your face ’cause they don’t love that either. You got to love it, you! And no, they ain’t in love with your mouth. Yonder, out there, they will see it broken and break it again. What you say out of it they will not heed. What you scream from it they will snatch away and give you leavins instead. No, they don’t love your mouth. You got to love it. This is flesh I’m talking about here. Flesh that needs to be loved. Feet that need to rest and to dance; backs that need support; shoulders that need arms, strong arms I’m telling you. And O my people, out yonder, hear me, they do not love your neck unnoosed and straight. So love your neck; put a hand on it, grace it, stroke it and hold it up. And all your inside parts that they’d just as soon slop for hogs, you got to love them. The dark, dark liver––love it, love it, and the beat and beating heart, love that too. More than eyes or feet. More than lungs that have yet to draw free air. More than your life-holding womb and your life-giving private parts, hear me now, love your heart. For this is the prize.” (88-89)

“A Non-Traditional Blessing” by Sister Ruth Marlene Fox

This blessing is typically attributed as “A Franciscan blessing” or occasionally ““Four-Fold Benedictine Blessing” but actually Benedictine nun Sister Ruth Marlene Fox wrote it for a student group in 1985.

May God* bless you with discomfort,
At easy answers, half-truths,
And superficial relationships
So that you may live
Deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression,
And exploitation of people,
So that you may work for
Justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears,
To shed for those who suffer pain,
Rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand
To comfort them and
To turn their pain to joy

*You may adjust the first line of each stanza to “May you be blessed with…” if your community does not ascribe blessings to God.

Ritual of Healing — Lamentation Songs and Readings  

This is primarily for those in biblical traditions, but aspects could be adapted to others, eg. dhikr (repetition of Arabic names of God) Islamic nasheeds (music) or congregational salah (prayer). You can use this in full or one piece that resonates with you and your group.

Opening song – By the Waters

Invite several participants to read each paragraph aloud (1 reader per paragraph)  

An Invitation to Lamentation 

From the earliest days of human history, we have records of human practices of grief and mourning. From the rending or tearing of one’s garments to wearing sackcloth and ashes to weeping and wailing – the bible offers us plenty of examples of rituals of mourning that were common in the ancient near east.

To lament is to cry out against something that is regretted or something or someone who has been lost. The ritual act of lamentation is a lost art that can provide an important role in the grief and healing process. The Book of Lamentations is a book of poetry grieving over the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE when the Babylonians conquered the Israelites and sent them into exile.

Lament is not only a form of regret and grieving; it is also a form of memory. Too often in our world we seek forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation without having properly grieved and repented. Reconciliation is impossible without recognition of the harm that has been done and grieving over the damage of sins committed.

Our healing begins with lament.

Lament for the sins of violence and oppression against women, sexual minorities, children and all those who have been and continue to have their bodies, their dignity, and their humanity damaged and violated.

Lament for the complicity of the church and our theologies that have contributed to misogyny and rigid gender roles that have and continue to harm God’s people. 

Lament for ministers and others in position of leadership who have misused and exploited their power and authority to sexually abuse those in their care. 

Lament for our inability as spiritual people to listen in ways that allow us to hear one another’s pain.

Lament for the dis-ordered world that is the result of our sin and our ineptitude in dealing with human sexuality, and a lament for how these sins have damaged lives, communities, trust, and the health and well-being of our communion.

Ritual Action  

Think over our day together. The stories you have told. The stories you have heard. In preparing ourselves to “bear one another in love” – what do you wish to cry out against that might help to prepare you for the task of “bearing” one another? Write down your lament on a piece of paper.   

Invite people to tear up their papers and to place them into a bowl to be put on the table.   

Prayer
To be led by you or participant(s)   

Litany of healing (read in unison)

We suffer because of the pain, brokenness, oppression and loss of meaning that too many experience about their sexuality.

We yearn for our spiritual community to celebrate the goodness of creation, our bodies and our sexualities.

We suffer when this sacred gift is abused or exploited.

We affirm that sexually-just relationships express love, justice, mutuality, commitment, consent, and pleasure.

We suffer because of discrimination against people because of sex, gender, color, age, bodily condition, marital status or sexual orientation.

We long for a world that reflects God’s love for all of creation.

We suffer because of violence against women, children and sexual minorities. 

We ache for theologies that help us heal the world instead of causing harm. 

We know that sexuality is God’s life-giving and life-fulfilling gift. 

We desire healing that will help us bear one another in love as we learn together how to celebrate God’s gift of sexuality with holiness and integrity. 

Closing Song – Go Now Peace (repeat 3x) 
Go now in peace, go now in peace, 
May the love of God* surround you, 
Everywhere, everywhere, you may go. 

*or All

Meditation 

Spirit of Life, Dear God that is known by many names,  
Enable us to use the days ahead
not in bitterness or in despair, fear or hatred, but in love.
May the words of our hearts flow freely
to the hearts of those beside us.
Let no walls of silence be erected between us
lest we be alone when together.

We who have shared so much of life
still have the opportunity to create
even more precious memories.
As we speak of life’s eternal meaning
let us sense the tenderness
in the clasp of our hands, a hug, a healing touch,
and in the wordless message of the glimpse of our eyes.

Grant us, O God, the strength
that comes with acceptance of self and others.
Help us to gain wisdom, courage, and resilience,
that we may liberate ourselves and others.
Help us to remember that we are beautiful, we are powerful, and we are loved.  

Blessed Be/Amen/Language of your choosing.  

Responsive Reading (Suggested closing for Modules 6, 7, 8)

Leader: For a world where bigotry and oppression prevent so many people from living joyfully and openly:

Response: Let us create loving, justice-seeking faith communities where shame, judgment, and stigma have no place. 

Leader: For a world where God and theology have so often been used as weapons of harm:  

Response: Let us create loving, justice-seeking faith communities where shame, judgment, and stigma have no place. Leader: 

For all the people and communities in need of healing and wholeness,          

Everyone: Let us create loving, justice-seeking faith communities where shame, judgment, and stigma have no place. 

Song: Pray for a World 

Words: Professor Ruth Duck  
Music: Old 100th (Protestant Doxology)  

Pray for a world where ev’ry child
Finds welcome in a sheltered place,
Where love is tender, undefiled,
And firmness intertwines with grace.  

Pray for a world where passion’s fire
Burns not in force or careless lust.
Where God’s good gift of deep desire 
Is safe in arms of faith and trust. 

Pray for a nation that is fair
And seeks the welfare of us all,
Where leaders guide with prudent care
To nurture life both great and small.  

Pray for a world where all have voice
And none will batter, rape, abuse;  
Till then, may all have rightful choice
And shame-free wisdom as they choose.

Litany of Welcome 

written by Rev. Dr. Debra W. Haffner, 2022

All: You are welcome here.

One: If you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, demisexual, pansexual, asexual, resist labels completely, or if you are straight,

All: You are welcome here.

One: If you are transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex, or cisgender,

All: You are welcome here.

One: If you are confused about your sexuality, have questions, struggle in an intimate relationship or struggle because you aren’t in one,

All: You are welcome here.

One: If you have had an abortion or an unplanned pregnancy, relinquished a child for adoption, had a miscarriage, live with AIDS or HIV, struggle with infertility, or have experience with the foster care system,

All: You are welcome here.

One: If you have been the victim of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, or sexual assault,

All: You are welcome here.

One: If you have made sexual decisions or engaged in behaviors that you regret,

All: You are welcome here, and we will help you offer restorative justice and healing.

One: Your sexuality is holy and sacred and an integral part of who you are.

All: You are welcome here.

As people of faith, we will side with you, love you, and fight for your rights.

We seek to create a world where sexuality and sexual diversity is celebrated with holiness and integrity.