Passover, Ramadan and Easter: Finding Hope in Dark Times - Opening Prayer for the Colorado House of Representatives

This is a sacred time for many religious traditions. All over the world, Muslims are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan. For Christians, Easter begins on April 9th. This Wednesday night, Jews around the world will begin celebrating the festival of Passover.  On the first and second nights, we will gather around festive tables and retell the ancient story of our redemption at a special meal called a seder.  With song, prayers, special foods and ancient symbols we will heed the call to relive the experience of liberation from Egyptian bondage. 

For seven days we will refrain from eating foods that are leavened - no bread, no pastries, nothing that contains yeast - in order to remember the haste with which our ancestors had to flee Egypt.

Passover is a joyous festival.  As we tell and retell our ancient story of deliverance, we literally taste the bitterness of slavery and the sweetness of freedom.  We drink 4 cups of wine to remember the 4 divine promises of salvation.

As we look around the world today, we see that there are many people for whom the messages of freedom and redemption are a distant hope.  In too many dark places freedom is stifled.  Repression is rampant. 

A little over a year ago, we witnessed the brutal invasion of Ukraine which reminds us that tyrants will always try to force their will upon the innocents. Over the past several weeks we have, once again grieved as terror broke out – here in Denver and in Nashville – as students, teachers and administrators were gunned down by weapons of war in halls of learning.  As we bear witness to the genocide unfolding in front of us – in Ukraine, the streets of our cites, in churches, mosques, synagogues and schools - we are compelled – not only to pray for the safety of those in harm’s way, but also to do all we can to support the innocents.

But despair does not only exist at the end of a gun.  There are those outside these walls who are enslaved to lives of violence, poverty, drugs, alcohol, homelessness, and abuse. The suffering in our streets and the cries of the downtrodden call upon us to build bridges of compassion and understanding while tearing down walls of separation and degradation. The festivals of Passover, Easter and Ramadan all teach us of the necessity to look for hope in the midst of darkness.  Their messages must echo deep in our hearts and souls.

Here in this sacred chamber, we also must ask painful questions: How many of us are enslaved to enmity and strife?  How often do we refrain from reaching out in compromise and retreat to partisanship?

On this day of hope and promise, O God, we ask Your blessing on this place.  May these legislators, officials, clerks and dedicated public servants find new hope in the process of governing.  May any arguments that arise during deliberation and debate be catalysts for communion with You and one another. 

O God – You have bequeathed to us a world filled with beauty and hope.  Help us to find the eternal messages of liberation and self-determination that echo within this sacred chamber and in our hearts.  May the messages of our holy festivals stir within us all a burning desire to bring hope and freedom to all.  And Let us say, AMEN