After the Hosannahs have all been shouted,
After anguished moments in the garden have been spent,
After “take this bread and eat, take this wine and drink,”
After betrayal with a kiss,
After hands washed and 39 lashes,
After seven last words and “he breathed his last,”
After crucifixion and death,
After laying the body in the tomb,
After rolling away the stone,
After proclamations of “He is risen!”
Now let us rise.
Now let us awaken to a new dawn, a new day.
Let us remake the world with the hope of Easter.
Let us set free the prisoners,
House the homeless,
Educate the children,
Offer gainful work to all who are willing and able to work,
Protect soil, water, air, and food,
End all forms of state-sanctioned violence.
Now may we awaken and stay woke.
Now may we rise and stay risen.
Amen and blessed be.
modeled after Howard Thurman’s “Now the Work of Christmas Begins”
