January 28, 2025, at 7:30 PM ET
“Welcome the New Year with All of Its Struggles and Hopes”
With Diann L. Neu and the WATER staff
Watch the recording of the WATERritual here.
Preparation: Place a bowl of water and a candle near you.
Welcome: It’s a new year. How are you doing? It has been a tough time since the January 20th Inauguration. Let’s take a deep breath.
Breathe in resistance…Breathe out fear.
Breathe in solidarity…Breathe out feeling alone.
Breathe in hope…Breathe out anxiety.
As we step into this new year, let us pray together tonight to resist, recommit, and find hope. We pray in these uncertain times: the effect of the inauguration, the wildfires on the West Coast, the ceasefire in Gaza, the uncertainties in Syria, the political turmoil with upcoming European elections. And we ask ourselves: What happens next? How can we face struggles this year? What sparks hope in us?
The song “Wade in the Water,” also known as an African American jubilee song, indicates it was created and sung by enslaved people. While it is not proven but believed, it is one of the songs associated with the Underground Railroad, a network consisting of secret routes and safe houses used by slaves in the US to find freedom. According to beliefs, Harriet Tubman, who helped free more than 70 people, used this song to warn slaves to get off the trail and into the water to prevent dogs from finding them.
Hold your water bowl and imagine all the people who have waded or are wading in the water as you listen to the song.
Song: ”Wade in the Water” by Sweet Honey in the Rock
Chorus: Wade in the water / Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water / God’s gonna trouble the water.
* See those children all dressed up in white.
They look like the children of the Israelites. Chorus:
* See those children dressed in black.
They come a long way ain’t turning back. Chorus:
* See the children dressed in blue.
Look like my people they comin’ on thru. Chorus:
*See those children dressed in red.
Must be the children that Moses led. Chorus:
* See those children dressed in green.
They movin’ down to that Jordan stream. Chorus:
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Willie Mae Thornton
Wade in the Water lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Video: Bishop Budde asks Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ communities and immigrants.
Reading: Letter to Bishop Budde from WATER, January 22, 2025
Dear Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde,
The Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER) thanks and commends you for your excellent service and sermon at A Service of Prayer for the Nation on January 21, 2025. The Cathedral truly functioned as “A House of Prayer for all People” and you led the way with a message of unity and mercy. The nation is in your debt.
We applaud your forthright message. Immigrants, as well as Gay, Lesbian, and Trans people, along with others who are marginalized by those in power, tremble in the face of policies and Executive Orders that dehumanize all of us. Thank you for making public and explicit the expectation of this nation that all persons will be treated with dignity and respect regardless of status.
You modeled what religious leaders do, namely, unite people for the common good. We your siblings in ministry, education, and activism stand with and around you, wishing you every blessing and protection as you continue your stalwart and fruitful ministry.
Sincerely with gratitude,
Mary E. Hunt, Diann L. Neu, Magdalena Mueller, Wed Naji
WATER Co-directors and Staff
Poem: “Not Just Passing” by Hiba Abu Nada, translated by Huda Fakhreddine
Hiba Abu Nada was a Palestinian poet, novelist, and educator. Her novel الأكسجين ليس للموتى (Oxygen is Not for the Dead) won second place in the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity in 2017. She was killed in her home in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli airstrike on October 20, 2023. She was 32. Light a candle.
Yesterday, a star said
to the little light in my heart,
We are not just transients
passing.
Do not die. Beneath this glow
some wanderers go on
walking.
You were first created out of love,
so carry nothing but love
to those who are trembling.
One day, all gardens sprouted
from our names, from what remained
of hearts yearning.
And since it came of age, this ancient language
has taught us how to heal others
with our longing,
how to be a heavenly scent
to relax their tightening lungs: a welcome sigh,
a gasp of oxygen.
Softly, we pass over wounds,
like purposeful gauze, a hint of relief,
an aspirin.
O little light in me, don’t die,
even if all the galaxies of the world
close in.
O little light in me, say:
Enter my heart in peace.
All of you, come in!
Reflection / Sharing
“Wade in the Water.” “O little light in me, don’t die.” “You modeled what religious leaders do, namely, unite people for the common good.” Let us take a few minutes to share our reflections about courage and light within us and around us as we struggle and hold onto hope. How can we keep the spark alive? How can we be courageous and speak truth to power as Bishop Mariann Budde did? How can we support one another? Let’s share a glimpse of our reflections. In groups of 3, share your name, where you are, and your thoughts and feelings. Sharing.
Prayers for Mercy
With ongoing wars and military conflicts, environmental degradation, natural disasters, injustice, economic disparity, political tension, and health issues, many around the world need us to pray with them or to pray for them this night. Let our response be “Compassionate Mercy, hear and answer our prayer”
A depressed youth seeks help from being ignored and silenced by political decision-makers.
Compassionate Mercy, hear and answer our prayer.
An immigrant woman offers a moment of gratitude for finding a new and safe community for her family.
Compassionate Mercy, hear and answer our prayer.
A family loses their home due to war, displacement, fires, or weather extremes.
Compassionate Mercy, hear and answer our prayer.
A mother cries for the children she has lost in war.
Compassionate Mercy, hear and answer our prayer.
Blessing Courageous People
Who is a courageous person? How do we recognize one? How do we become one?
A courageous person enjoys life amid struggles.
Let us enjoy life amid struggles.
A courageous person resists all forms of domination with soft kind words and actions.
Let us resist all forms of domination with soft kind words and actions.
A courageous person empowers others.
Let us empower each other.
A courageous person sees the needs of others and acts.
Let us see the needs of others and act.
A courageous person calls the best out of people.
Let us call the best out of people.
A courageous person is dedicated to their work and believes in the greater good.
Let us be dedicated to our work and believe in the greater good.
Take Action
Let us put our prayers into action.
- Pray for the USA and the world at large. We are all cells in this great universe and we need it to survive together.
- Recommit to finding and creating meaning in our daily tasks.
- Express gratitude for being able to experience and create change.
- Set a goal for yourself to tell someone every day that you appreciate them.
Sending Forth
Let us go forth treasuring our connections as courageous and open-minded people.
May we be connected with creation, with one another, with the Divine.
May we fill our lives with meaning, faith, and solidarity.
May we courageously speak truth to power.
May we hold on to hope.
Amen. Blessed be. May it be so.
Song: “Guide My Feet” African American spiritual; sung by First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn Choir at NYU, 2009.
*Guide my feet while I run this race (3x)
For I don’t want to run this race in vain.
*Hold my hand… Stand by me… I’m your child… Guide my feet
© 2025 Diann L. Neu, dneu@hers.com, adapted from Stirring WATERS: Feminist Liturgies for Justice by Diann L. Neu and WATER Staff
