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246 ˜ A Work of Hospitality, 1982–2002
“I give you the Festival of Shelters with the harvest. As you
celebrate the goodness of life, remember your redemption.”
And we who have the basic necessities of life remember our redemption by
living in servanthood with the poor. We stand in political, social, and congregational
solidarity with the homeless and the prisoner.
the festival of shelters for today
Beware! There is a hippopotamus loose in the land. We need people to
name the hippo. We need lovers of the Lord who can remember redemption and
share the harvest with the hungry. We need white men who are prepared to fail
and to be fired from their jobs, who can reenvision the Christian life and give
voice to grief and courage in both our churches and society.
We need African American men who will stand up and lead us in our justice
struggle.
We need white women who can grant us courage and give us wisdom in this
sexist society that blames victims for their wilderness wanderings.
We need Black women to show us the way, to demonstrate the faith, to be
bearers of God’s justice in this land of oppression and greed.
We need each other to reconnect the harvest of earth with the liberation
struggle on earth.
So I plead with you today from the streets of Atlanta and the prisons of
Georgia, from the soup-kitchen lines and death-row cells, from labor pools and
church-basement shelters:
Remember the Lord thy God
Who gave you your houses,
Cars, MARTA cards, all the
Food you need, good clothes and
Even much of what you want
And in the joy of Thanksgiving
Celebrate the Festival of Shelters
Remember your redemption
Serve the poor
Kill Santa Claus
Chase the Easter bunny back into his hole
Name the hippopotamus
and embrace
the cross of Christ
for your naked self