Polyphonic
A Psalm (and Hashtag) for Hong Kong’s New Political Prisoners
Some follow-up to my previous post on Joshua Wong:
About a week after the passing of Hong Kong’s new security law, Wong, facing the prospect of torture and imprisonment in China, posted the well-loved Psalm 23 to Twitter.
I’ve been using this psalm to pray for him and Hong Kong’s other political prisoners/exiles over the past few weeks. In particular:
- Tony Chung, 19, arrested for a Facebook post,
- Agnes Chow, 24, now immortalized as “the real Mulan,”
- Jimmy Lai, owner of the feisty pro-democracy outlet, Apple Daily,
- Ted Hui, a legislator who has repeatedly interposed himself between police and protestors,
- Pastor Roy Chan of the legendary group Protect the Children, and of course
- the twelve Hong Kong youths whose speedboat was intercepted by Chinese forces while fleeing to Taiwan.1
Hardly comprehensive, but it’s a start. I’ve included the psalm below, so feel free to weave it into your own spiritual practice. And share it with the hashtag #HongKongPsalm23 if you can.
#HongKongPsalm23
Psalm 23 — a psalm of David.2
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for length of days.
After three months in Chinese prisons, they were finally charged yesterday.↩︎
From the New Revised Standard Version. (Wong quotes the New International Version in his tweet.)↩︎