Disciplined Hope: Prayer Politics and Resistance

In a time of political turmoil how should we pray? What is the role of prayer in resisting politics that are based on hatred and division? This book claims prayer as a way to choose hope over fear. Beginning soon after the Inauguration in 2017 Shannon Craigo-Snell offered brief daily prayers lifting up people and groups who were actively working for the common good. These prayers collected here provide a historical record of the rhetorical and political outrages of the first year of the Trump Administration as well as the actions of those who resisted. They remember the small victories averted disasters and ongoing struggles of people of good will. They affirm not only the practical value of political involvement but also the spiritual value of such engagement in solidarity with those most vulnerable to destructive policies. In addition to these daily prayers this book offers an introduction and invitation to prayer. Intercessory prayer in particular can bridge divides between religious traditions and cultural differences creating a space in which diverse communities can hope together for a better world. With this collection Shannon Craigo-Snell has captured a part of faithful resistance often left out of the history of movements. This book of her social media prayers annotated within their historical contexts is a love note to people who long for justice as a faithful Christian response. It is a powerful testimony of prayer as action as intention as community. I will be reading and praying them again and again. --Valerie Bridgeman Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs Associate Professor of Homiletics and Hebrew Bible Methodist Theological School in Ohio I was one of those who prayed the prayers in this book when they were just Facebook ephemera. To have them collected in a book is a gift. These prayers continue to remind me that the promise God made to us is real: I am working in the world. There is hope. --Landon Whitsitt Producer of Theocademy and author Open Source Church Shannon Craigo-Snell is Professor of Theology at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She is the author of multiple books including No Innocent Bystanders: Becoming an Ally in the Struggle for Justice co-authored with Christopher Doucot (2017).