Silence in the Mines and Lines
A Lament for Workers

God,
Greed, power, and dominance have taken root.
Growing so wildly, they threaten the beauty of your Great Eden.
The empire extracts worker productivity and benefits only the mighty few.

Empire still enslaves, like those in the Congo, mining rare earth metals for iPhones and other popular electronic devices.

Oh God, we lament for those in wealthy nations who work hard, are labeled lazy, yet still don’t have food on their tables.
Those labeled “Welfare Queens” as billionaires extract tax dollars for capital-generating projects.
Union busting and “Right to Work” give employers more power than the people.
Environmental protections are being rolled back, leaving workers and creation unsafe.

Empire rejects your gleaning laws, my God.
They leave no profit to care for people experiencing poverty or their communities.

Where are you, God?

Your silence is loud in the Congo mines and unemployment lines.
Why are you quiet as the empire feasts while a worker’s belly growls?
But God of the Scales, you have always made things right.

Can you again, today?
I trust you can make things right.

Give us the power to tear down systems that equate human productivity with paper and coins.
Give us hope for a better future where all workers are treated with dignity.
Give us the courage to call general strikes and demand fairness in our workplaces.
Free all brown bodies still enslaved or in indentured servitude because of the wealth they produce for the empire.

And when you do, stay by our side like a mother tucking in a child at night.
Stay with us, God, as we challenge the Herods of this world, those who uphold empire through fear and violence.

Cover us in your Holy Spirit and protect us.

Amen