In the spring of 2020, University of San Francisco Faculty Union (USFFA) president, Sonja Martin Poole, asked Kimberly Rae Connor, the Lane Center Faculty Chair for Mission Integration and its liaison to the USFFA, to create a blessing that USFFA members could share before their meetings. The tradition of opening meetings with this blessing continues today. In support of the dignity of labor, we offer the blessing on behalf of workers everywhere and hope you will join us in using it in your settings.
We gather today seeking opportunities of beatitude. Together let us bless:
All who have been left behind by the economy, who are unemployed or underemployed, or who are unjustly employed, working hard and yet living in poverty;
All who work in the shadow of a broken and unjust immigration system;
All who fear losing their jobs, their homes, and their communities;
All who struggle to feed their families, pay their bills and weep over the loss of their children’s opportunities;
All who feel disillusioned by their vocations and frustrated in their callings;
All staff who are furloughed, fearful of losing their jobs, or struggling to meet the expectations of their jobs under unfamiliar and challenging conditions;
All Contingent, Probationary, Term Faculty and Librarians, persons core to our academic and intellectual community, and to the quality of education we provide our students;
All Senior Faculty who recognize their privilege and seek equity for their colleagues who do not benefit from the same privilege;
All collective bargaining representatives and leadership for their work and commitment to the common good;
All who dignify labor, either for pay or as volunteers, in jobs or at school, in the workplace or at home, in government or on the streets, in churches or bars, in the U.S. and around the world.
May we as a collective work to build a new world in the midst of the old:
A world where all workers and their labor are valued.
A world where those who clean houses are also able to buy houses to live in.
A world where those who grow food can also afford to eat their fill.
A world where those who serve are also served.
A world where those who care for others are also cared for.
A world where workers everywhere share in the abundance of creation, supported by an economy that honors the dignity of all who labor.
Together may we find the courage and strength to live out our love in deeds more than words, in the workplace and the marketplace, sheltered at home and among each other. May we continue to seek opportunities for beatitude in these troubling times and always.
Shalom. Salaam. Amen. Namaste. Ashe. Let it be.
