Benediction for a People in Pandemic

Anya Sammler-Michael

When faced with a challenge such as this,
We can turn toward one another
Or we can turn against.

We can ignore the cries of our neighbors,
Or we can let them cry into the arms of our witness,
We can respond with indifference to systemic injustice
Or we can commit to its undoing.

Good souls, tales will be told of how we responded,
When this particular hell was visited upon our earth.
Let us know, and let it be said by generations to come
that when the pain of our separation was revealed,
We moved closer to the promised land of our beloved community.

Amen.