Jan 25 2019 Suffrages

Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.

Every day in morning and evening prayer, we pray something called Suffrages. When you're In the company of others, the person leading the prayers offers the first sentence, and everyone else responds with the second line.

This morning, I was struck by prayer, more than the Scripture readings, which is part of the joy of a morning prayer that includes both. It turns out that the Suffrages are based on prayers from almost 1000 years ago, in England, from something called the Sarum Rite. To be clear, I'm not advocating that things 1000 years old are better, or inherently worthy, but they definitely do carry the honor of staying power through time and space.

Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten. I'm always struck by this sentence, in that it doesn't identify who's not supposed to forget. Are we asking God to not forget? Or imploring God to let us not forget? This reminds me of a meme I'd seen which was something like, "I keep asking God why God doesn't do anything about the needs and hurts in the world. God asked me the same thing"

For as rich as that first line is of this particular Suffrage, I'm always shaken by the response. Nor the hope of the poor be taken away. After years working with the poor - poor in cash, poor in spirit, poor in health - the people who are most desperate are those who've lost hope. It's always amazing to see people who've seemed to have lost everything, but have not lost their hope. They are beacons of light in otherwise troublesome places. In contrast are those who've given up hope. Regardless of good their station in life, without hope, they are destined to become poorer.

That is my deep prayer today and every day.

Let not the hope of the poor be taken away.