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State of the City Breakfast 2018 -The Honorable Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms

I was recently studying our weekly scriptural reading according to the Jewish people, the Torah portion Emor, with a first grader. Together, we read these words, which God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites: “These are my fixed times, the fixed times of the Eternal One, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions.” The student was surprised to discover that many of the holidays she celebrates today were described in detail in the text. So, EmorI was recently studying our weekly scriptural reading according to the Jewish people, the Torah portion naturally I asked the rhetorical question: “Can you believe we’ve been celebrating these holidays for so long?” She replied, “I bet these holidays are even older than my grandparents.” “Perhaps just a bit,” was my response.

This portion tells us not only when to celebrate but how to celebrate the Jewish holy days of Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, the Feast of Booths. Each day has its own list of commands, reflected in their prescribed active verbs: you shall elevate, you shall eat, you must count, you shall bring, you shall observe.

We gather today in assembly at our own set time, though this was not mandated in the Torah. The annual Mayor’s State of the City Breakfast was commanded by those who have come before us as they envisioned the collaborative relationship between business, community, faith and non-profit leaders. Just as with the holy days described in Torah, we, too, have a collection of verbs that can help to explain how we commemorate this sacred occasion:

We gather…as a community, as a city, across demographics, regardless of the neighborhood of our dwelling, we assemble in this room at this time.

We discuss…together. The blessings and the opportunities presented at this time are not to be taken lightly, and Mayor Bottoms has been identifying and executing policy to make us a stronger community. Today we are able to participate in that conversation and, as we learn more about the tasks to confront in the year ahead, we begin to find a way to contribute to that conversation.

We hear…the reflections of our current Mayor. Our city is blessed with exemplary leadership, evidenced beautifully by the example of Mayor Bottoms who will soon present her thoughts concerning her tenure and her vision for our city moving forward.

We celebrate…a new direction and a new day for our city, one that will include our collective voices. Those assembled in this room possess such character and caliber; we celebrate the bridges that are erected and the bonds that are deepened simply by assembling together in this place at this time.

Allow me to share the prophetic words of Kathleen McTigue in her prayer “We Are Woven Together”:

We gather today as a diverse body of people from many faiths and traditions.

We do not speak the same language of worship.

We follow different teachings, made known to us by sacred voices and scriptures through the ages.

We do not utter the same prayers, nor do we even use the same word, if any word at all, to speak the name of God.

Nevertheless, we gather together.

In our gathering, we honor and celebrate our diversity.

We do not seek a unity that would deny our differences.

We seek rather a deeper union, a union woven through choice and intent, through

time and attention, through respect and compassion, until we recognize that we have become a whole cloth, a cloth made rich and textured and vibrant through our differences.

Each of us can hear, in the beating of our own hearts, the ancient rhythm of the loom at work.

We are woven together.

We are bound to one another.

We belong to and with each other.

And together, with God’s blessings, we will accomplish marvelous things.

May we go from strength to strength. Amen.