We are moving through the omer week of Yesod [foundation, creative energy], from the day of Chesed [loving-kindness] to Gevurah [strength]. This seems an auspicious moment to consider efforts to “reclaim Mother’s Day” for radical, life-saving messages:
In the spirit of the original Mother’s Day,* activists in St. Louis gathered today to call on others to “join us in demanding an end to systematic oppression wrought by white supremacy in our nation, our schools, and (yes) our churches. (Here’s their “White Mothers We Need to Talk” handout.)
This follows additional actions Millenial Activists United, including a #BlackShul picket on Yom Hashoah. (Here’s the #BlackShul handout >>>)
See also #whitefolkwork, #blackchurch, and #ReclaimMothersDay.
We counted 36 on the evening of May 9. Tonight, we count….
Making the Omer Count
from On the Road to Knowing: A Journey Away from Oppression
A key element in the journey from liberation to revelation is understanding the workings of oppression, and our part in them. We cannot work effectively to end what we do not comprehend.
So this year, moving from Passover to Shavuot, I commit to learning more about how oppression works and how liberation is accomplished. I invite others to join me:
Let’s work together, as we count the Omer, to make this Omer count.
Thoughts and sources welcome.
Share this graphic to encourage others to participate.
A Meditation
Aware that we are on a journey toward knowing God — from liberation to revelation — I undertake to know more today than I did yesterday about the workings of oppression.
I bless and count [full Hebrew blessings in feminine and masculine address]:
Blessed are You, God, Ruler/Spirit of the Universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.
Today is thirty-seven days which are five weeks and two days in the Omer.
Hayom shiv’ah ushloshim yom shehaym chamishah shavuot ushnay yamim la-omer.In the spirit of the Exodus, I pray for the release of all whose bodies and spirits remain captive, and pledge my own hands to help effect that liberation.
In 1858, Mother’s Day began as a call for peace. (See Zinn Education Project).
In 1870, Julia Ward Howe asked women to “meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead” and advocate for peace.
In 1910, Mother’s Day became a U.S. holiday.
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