In a time of intense political polarization, we are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. Books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women and books about racism, sexuality, gender, history are the ones most often targeted by bans. When some seek to police access to some experiences, some histories, some understandings, some ideas, the image of God is dimmed. Without these books, our encounters with the amazing diversity of creation are incomplete, and our capacity for compassion across difference is stymied.  Our love of God is limited because we do not have the chance to recognize all the ways the divine image is manifest in our world.

We believe that banned books have a special vocation, a particular calling in our faith communities: to help expand and enliven the image of God and empower us to reckon with truths that demand our loving accountability.  So the Love is Louder Campaign and Join the Movement toward Racial Justice join together to invite us to bless banned books, so that they might live out their calling and empower us to continue becoming God’s kindom of justice and love, on earth as it is in heaven.

Use the blessing on February 11 to honor Racial Justice Sunday!