HOLY WORK FOR HOLY WEEK: Weaving Palms and Sweetgrass
We have decided to send you an email this Holy Week because here in Maine, it’s anything but “business as usual.” This Thursday (Maundy Thursday), April 14, our state legislators will be considering LD 1626, a bill that would lead Maine to finally recognize the tribal sovereignty of our Wabanaki neighbors.
We invite you, as part of your spiritual practice, to engage in holy work this Holy Week: please contact your state representative and state senator by phone or email TODAY to let them know this bill matters to you and why (being sure to include any faith-based reasons you may have).
If you aren’t sure who your state legislators are, click HERE for House and HERE for Senate. (At this point in the legislative process, it’s generally best for constituents to contact only their own legislators, not those who represent other districts.)
If you know that your legislators support LD 1626, then begin by thanking them. If you’re not sure where they stand, it’s best to begin with: “If you have already decided to support LD 1626, I’d like to thank you.” This simple courteous acknowledgement helps avoid any awkward miscommunication before you explain why you support passage of this bill.
As you recall the fresh, green scent of the palms you waved and wove last Sunday, think, too, about the fresh, green scent of sweetgrass, braided for millenia by our neighbors, the people of the Dawnland, the Wabanaki, on whose land we now work and live. And reflect on how we “people of the palms” are called to stand in solidarity with those who braid sweetgrass, and whose sovereignty we have failed to recognize for far too long. Then, for their sake, for your sake, for God’s sake, act.
May your actions this Holy Week be Holy Work. And may your Easter morning bring joy and renewed surprise at the capacity for resurrection.
Rev. Jane Field, MCC Executive Director
