A Prayer for the House of Representatives

April 5, 2023 (I say the wrong date in the video)

On April 5, 2023 I was invited by my friends at Corazón Arizona to open up the floor and pray for the House of Representatives. We were guests of Representative Lorena Austin who is so great and so nice, by the way! I was honored to be with them and participate and it was an experience I will never forget. 🙏🏾

I spent so much time writing a prayer I felt would move the hearts of both Republicans and Democrats and beckon all of us to work together to see and help better the human experience in our city.

I thought the recording fluke was coincidental at first but then I noticed other people who prayed on other days were seen on camera and heard the entire time. 👀 🤷🏾‍♀️

Below is a transcript of the prayer:

“Spirit of Life and Love, Holy One of our Being and our Becoming, That which is Sacred Within, Among, and Beyond Us…We know so many stories about You: God, Lord, King, Father. Earth Mother, Great Spirit, Universe. Holy Parent, Divine Love, Deepest Longings, Covenanted Partner.” (words by Mandie McGlynn).

We come from many backgrounds and lived experiences which have formed our values and our beliefs. But in this moment, would you help us remember that we are united by something we all subconsciously do 22,000 times a day…we breathe. 

As we breathe, would you help us to expand our collective imagination for our city. Because, like you, great Creator, we can also create. 

And our ability to create a better city and state is only limited by our ability to imagine.

So as we breathe, help us to imagine. 

Help us to imagine a world where we forgive ourselves, and so we extend that forgiveness to others.

Help us to imagine a world where we are at peace with ourselves, and so we extend that peace to the world around us.

Help us to imagine a world where we love ourselves, not selfishly or exclusively, but abundantly…where there is such an excess of love for ourselves that we are compelled to give it away. 

Because we BREATHE….and our imagination is not limited…we have hope to create a better world together. Though we have different beliefs, great Creator, would you help us imagine the values we can share.

As we speak with each other today and create legislation, may our words be like the lyrics of a New Day. As Amanda Gorman so eloquently penned:

“May this be the day


We come together.


Mourning, we come to mend,


Withered, we come to weather,


Torn, we come to tend,


Battered, we come to better.


Tethered by this year of yearning,


We are learning


That though we weren’t ready for this,


We have been readied by it.


We steadily vow that no matter


How we are weighed down,


We must always pave a way forward.

This hope is our door, our portal.


Even if we never get back to normal,


Someday we can venture beyond it,


To leave the known and take the first steps.


So let us not return to what was normal,


But reach toward what is next.”

Help us to breathe, imagine, and create…together. 

AMEN.