A prayer for Minnesota's health care

This morning, at First Congregational Church of Minnesota, 1,000 names of Minnesotans on GAMC were read aloud, to remind ourselves and our elected officials that cutting the funding to GAMC is not just a numbers issue. These are real people, with real faces and real stories who will face real and serious setbacks if they lose their health care.

We were one of 33 locations across the state who chose to stand in solidarity with GAMC recipients: from Mankato to Winona, each site read 1,000 names such that 33,000 were read in total around the state. This 33,000 people represent the average number of Minnesotans on GAMC in any given month.  

Beforehand, prior to reading the 1,000 names, we prayed, to honor and bring courage and dignity to this struggle:

   God of Justice and Love,
gather us into your warm embrace.
Fill us with your love and courage
this day to enable us to be
conduits of peace and makers of justice.

We pray especially this day with those
who struggle to maintain health care coverage.
We pray with lawmakers and leaders
who may not always see your ways of love and compassion.
We pray with each other and
with others who need courage to call for change.

May your light burn deeply in us.
May that light illuminate the faces of
people struggling. May we always remember
they are mothers, fathers, children, friends and neighbors,
all made in your image.

May our words, actions and deeds always reflect
your love so that our towns, cities, states and nations
will be transformed into places where justice rolls down like a river.

Amein. Amen. آمين