Every year the Mayor of Boston does a speech to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year and to announce new initiatives for the coming year. It is usually in January close to the President and the Governor’s addresses. This year our Mayor, Michelle Wu, gave birth to her daughter Mira on January 13th so this year the State of the City was held in March.
For the past few years I attended The State of the City as the Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space for the City of Boston. In 2021 I was appointed by Mayor Kim Janey and I remained under Mayor Michelle Wu. A year ago I left government in part because I felt called to play a different role in the world. A combination of my undergraduate studies in International Relations, my fourteen years as a youthworker and community organizer and my divinity school studies in conflict transformation have made me keenly aware of what it looks like when humans are at an critical moment. Even before I knew the outcome of the election, I could see how powerful forces are catering to the worst of who we can be and I believe there must be spiritually infused and socially organized voices calling for us to be our best selves.
It is standard practice for those who pray at the State of the City to focus their attention on the elected and appointed leaders who are there. That makes complete sense given how many of them are there and the fact that we need them to be guided by wisdom and compassion. However, I know that actions of our leaders are not enough to resist the dark forces that are moving in our world. We the people have to stand up. We have to see God in each other. We have to resist the temptation to feel like there is not enough for us all and choose to believe that if we follow our ancient sacred teachings and love our neighbor - that we will be able to build the kind of world we hope for but maybe don’t believe is possible. So I used my prayer to pray for us. I prayed that we will all rise to the challenge that calls us in this moment - to love God in whatever way that we understand God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. I prayed for us because our city and our country will only be its best when we choose to be the best of who we can be.
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