To continue our Black History Month Friday series, today we are featuring the life of Bayard Rustin. Mr. Rustin was a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. He was born into a Quaker home and grew up in a household of non-violence and civil rights activism. This upbringing lead him to become an adept strategist for the Civil Rights Movement. He worked closely with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and was a key organizer and strategist of numerous protests, marches, and rallies, including the 1963 March on Washington. He died unexpectedly in 1987 and was posthumuously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barak Obama in 2013. His led a profound life and we encourage you to learn more about Mr. Rustin, who was a leader from behind the scenes by visiting The National Parks Civil Rights webpage about Mr. Bayard Rustin.
If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end. ~ Bayard Rustin
Join us in reading a Quaker Prayer for Peace, written by Wallace B. Smith, in honor of Mr. Rustin’s lifelong commitment to justice and peace.
Eternal God, present in all of life that is significant and holy, hear us now as we lift our voices in thanksgiving and praise, in confession, and in supplication.
We give thanks for your word of encouragement that enables us to face each new day. We also thank you for your word of faithfulness that gives us hope for the future. And we give thanks for your word of guidance that directs us as we seek to better understand your ways.
Gracious God, deliver us from the shallowness of our commitments, from the thousand ways our strivings separate us from each other. And most of all, deliver us from our fears that alienate us from you.
O God of faith, hear our prayer as we light our flame of peace and love at this hour and in this sacred place. May the flame here kindled grow within each heart, that all may sense more fully your spirit in the warmth of our concern for one another. Refresh us when we grow weary of opposing injustice and oppression, terrorism and war, and send us forth from this time of prayer for peace strengthened to bind up the wounds that afflict our world. Grant us peace, O God — not the peace of slumber, but of quiet confidence in the triumph of your word. For the sake of all your creation, we pray.
Amen.