Candle lighting liturgy- Black Lives Matter

Below follows some extracts from the liturgy developed by Rev Jan Sebastian for Sunday January 26.  The community chose to recognise this day as Survival Day, rather than Australia Day or Invasion Day, because First Peoples are here, proud and resilient…                                                                                                                                                               

We gather today in the shadow of our nations’ beginning.

Ashamed of what we have established on the pain and destruction of others.

We gather today in the light of our hopes for the future.

Looking forward and longing for reconciliation and new ways to be our future.

…………….

Sophia calls us to gather

We gather in response to Sophia’s Love,
love within and without,                                                                                                                                      love encircling, love calling us to seek justice for all.

Together we gather as community, as companions along the way, part of an ever growing circle.

Together we gather knowing our lives are intertwined and that we care for each other.

………….                                                        

Lighting of Candles: Black, Yellow, Red, Rainbow

We light the world with Black – to remember our brothers and sisters who suffered and continue to suffer from the oppression that grows from invasion, greed and disrespect.

We light the world with Yellow – remembering with gratitude the sun, giving thanks for light, warmth, life, and beauty that emanates from her silent passage through time.

We light the world with Red – remembering the red earth beneath our feet and facing our little understood spiritual connection with the ground that holds and supports our life.

We light the world with Rainbow – acknowledging Sophia, God of Wisdom in our midst, bringer of hope, peace, joy and love to a world greatly in need of these, and a world in great need of reconciliation.