Psalm 95
A Cry for Freedom on Amistad Sunday

Written by Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson

Creator God, our voices cry to you across the waters
singing songs of freedom and courage
shouting to be at one with all the earth
and all you have created
crying aloud to you, the rock of our salvation.

We cry out for the souls lost through the Middle Passage
remembering those who were taken against their will 
broken and bruised on ships named Amistad
trafficked as chattel and sold as slaves
rendered as inhuman and worked as animals in the fields.

God of our Ancestors, you were with them when they were taken,
gods of many names who stayed with your people
you stayed present with them through the Middle Passage 
your hand guided them into an unknown land 
you reminded them of their worth and their place in you.

We sing songs of thanksgiving 
for the waters that held them and did not overwhelm them
for the stars that guided their way to freedom
for their courage to overcome pain, adversity, and dehumanization
for their faithfulness to the gods they knew and the rituals they carried.

Creator God, our voices cry out to you across the waters
for millions being forced from their homes today
refugees, asylum seekers, migrant workers - at risk 
being trafficked and sold because their homes are no longer safe
we cry out for the children lost along the way.

God of our Ancestors, we come in need of freedom,
the freedom of minds, unchained from melancholy and distress
the freedom of bodies, unchained from manacles and disease
we come in need of the freedom 
to sing and give thanks for the freedom we know is yet to come

O come! Let us sing songs of praise and lament to God our Mother
let us make a joyful noise for her love support and care
let us cry in lament as we wait for justice
she can do today what she did for our Ancestors yesterday.