This past week, we've been invited to join a prayer circle, with "Daughters of Freedom," around the dear and annointed life of Miriam Enyaga. Miriam gave birth just last week, and was immediately hospitalized with a severe case of COVID-19. On New Year's Eve, in Uganda, she died, leaving behind a husband and five dear children. Miriam was a child of God, first and foremost, a beloved sister to the human family, annointed by Spirit and shaped daily by the image and blessing of God. In addition, she was an activist and partner for women in Uganda and elsewhere who've experienced unimaginable violence and loss. Her determined friendship has blessed countless lives, and she will be missed desperately by the women and men she comforted and encouraged.
On the extroardinary prayer chain that evolved this week, I found this prayer of grief and sadness today. Written by Pastor Mariama White-Hammond in Boston, it seems a powerful testimony to our faith, in all its vulnerability, all its tenderness and all its power:
Oh God. Here we are in a new year and without our Sister Miriam. We know that she is with you. We affirm that in her life she did so much good and she was more than deserving of the reward of being in your presence. And yet the desire of our hearts was for her to remain on this side of glory. Holy Spirit we ask you to be the Comforter for Falukas and the children. We ask you to wrap your arms around everyone who is broken hearted today. We thank you that we don’t have to hide our grief or even our doubt from you. We thank you that you are strong enough to hold us in this time, that you understand the pain and you walk with your children even if we might be angry with you. We know that your will incorporates things that are too big for our minds to comprehend. We trust that in time your will reveal the bigger picture, and help us to understand how any good can come from this. For now we ask you just to be the Comforter. For those of us who feel led to support, help us to know what we can do to be helpful in this time. Let us feel your presence in this time where we need you more than ever. In the name of Jesus, who knows what it is to suffer, who felt the agony of death and who walks with us in all things.
It's painful to note that Miriam -- like Mary of Nazareth -- gave birth last week, bringing into the world a little baby boy she named Josiah. And like Mary, Miriam Enyaga has faced the world's deepest pain, the world's illness and despair. She has known bitterness, but not been overwhelmed by it. This Christmastide, with fragile and brittle prayers, we give thanks to God for her life, for all the ways she has 'magnified' God's blessing and compassion in the lives of the Ugandans she loved and served.
For Miriam's family and friends, for the dear ones whose journeys she championed, and for all who've lost so much this past year, we pray to the God of Love: "Let us feel your presence in this time when we need you more than ever. In the name of Jesus, who knows what it is to suffer, who felt the agony of death and who walks with us in all things." Amen and Amen.
