The Prayer at the End of the Walk to Stop Executions

*Closing Prayer at the Walk to Stop Executions at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio

Almighty God…We know you by many names…but today we gather for a primary purpose of abolition…but first we must repent. We repent that we wake up most days and don’t give a shit about the death penalty. We repent that we’ve often mounted little resistance to the machinery of death. We repent that we’ve consistently supplied all the funds necessary…by way of our taxes…to carry out these executions. Oh God…we repent.

We thank you for the sweet spirit in this place…but God you know that we don’t need any more sweetness. We know that it will take anger to abolish the death penalty. We know that we have to get angrier about these executions. Oh God…we pray for anger. We pray for anger so mighty that it turns into a rage strong enough to help us topple the whole damn system. We need anger against injustice. We need anger against killing. We need anger against the devaluation of life. We need anger…for we know that only anger and rage can lead us to a place of love. We have to overturn the gurney and execution tables Lord before we can learn to love the executioners. Help us Oh God!

Raise our dead bodies up. Lift our weary feet. Grant us passion and commitment. Push us further than we ever thought we could go. May our Walk to Stop Executions turn into the Sprint to Abolition…and let it happen yesterday.

Amen.