Posts Tagged ‘country’
August 9, 2009
And in my dismay I said, “All men are liars.” Ps 116:11
Lord, the concepts seemed so simple: reduce the costs that burden families and businesses large and small; preserve the patient’s choice of doctors while also providing a choice to those who would otherwise have none; and ensure that all have access to quality and affordable care. How did we move from broad agreement on improving our healthcare system to fears of euthanasia, shouting claques that prevent discussion and understanding, and a growing climate of distrust?
Let not our hope that change is possible give way to despair. Let not the complexity of detail and our distrust of the drafters destroy our focus on a more just and equitable system. Preserve our will to move forward. Protect us from those who see politics as a blood-sport, seeking a partisan kill. Help us to realize that “tyranny” may come in the form of those who, in order to preserve their own entrenched power, would exploit our fears and anger, — those who resist the restraint and accountability that government oversight can provide. Strengthen those who would lead us forward. Let them free themselves from the chains of party power, media sarcasm, and fear of failure. Give us compassion, strength to forgive, and the courage to reach out in healing to those with whom we disagree.
Help us to be patient in our hope, O Lord. Hear our cry and lift us “out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire”, set our feet on the rock of your promises, and guide us as we journey forward. Ps. 40:1-2
Amen
Tags:country, healthcare, hope, Obama, politics, Prayer, USA
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August 2, 2009
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
Thank you Lord for our President’s willingness to start new conversations, to focus forward, to seek dialogue on principles rather than pushing positions, and to attempt to change the patterns of partisan bickering. Help us to elect and to listen to others who are the type of leader identified by the apostle Paul — temperate, self-controlled, hospitable, able to teach, gentle and not quarrelsome, sincere and worthy of respect (1 Timothy 3:2-3, 8). Let us not be misled by hateful words, threats, jibes, or appeals to fear. Instead, help us to rid ourselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind (1 Peter 2:1); to learn not to repay evil with evil, or insult with insult, but to live in harmony with each other (1 Peter 3:8-9). Let us uphold your call of justice to the poor, and acknowledge the cause of the needy, and through honest and sincere dialogue, find the way forward to a more perfect union.
Amen
Tags:country, dialogue, Obama, politics, Prayer, USA, wisdom, words
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July 26, 2009
“You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.” Ps. 52:3
“So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.” Is. 59:14-15
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor for we are all members of one body.” Eph. 4:25
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
We review the life of Walter Cronkite with words like “honest”,”truthful”, and “integrity”, and we mourn for the loss of voices we can trust. As news and entertainment media have merged, we focus more on reports of the personal and petty than on understanding and working through the larger issues of our day. The difficulty of those issues is minimized, and understanding undermined, as efforts are made to assign “winners” and “losers” within each 24 hour news cycle. Words that serve more to inflame than to inform are repeated over and over. Isolated “facts” and “statistics” devoid of context are cited with breathless speculation of potential adverse consequences. The constant stream of information confuses and overwhelms. Efforts to address inequalities and injustice are slowed or stalled.
Strengthen us O Lord to seek your truth. Help us to speak truthfully to one another, moving beyond a war of data and slogans to an authentic sharing of experience, values, and knowledge. Help us to listen to one another with respect and care. And keep us focused on the great needs before us.
Redeem us O Lord, God of Truth (Ps. 31:5), and help us to find a better path.
Amen
Tags:country, dishonesty, honesty, media, politics, Prayer, truth, USA, wisdom
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July 12, 2009
Do men make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods! Jer. 16:20
Lord, forgive us our appetite for distraction and diversion. Forgive our fascination with celebrities and our envy of the self-indulgent. Help us to see that the ephemeral cannot sustain or guide us. Do not let our love of entertainment nor our attachment to sentimentality displace the careful thought and sustained work that is needed to heal our country. Help us to seek lives of meaning and purpose, to invest our wealth in building up our communities, and to share our gifts in ways that bring us closer to you. Guide us toward wisdom O Lord.
Amen.
Tags:country, entertainment, false gods, politics, Prayer, USA, wisdom
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July 5, 2009
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’ ” Zechariah 7:9-10
Lord, we are a land of many cultures and faiths. We are a nation that provided hope and opportunity to many generations of immigrants. Indeed, we are a nation in which over 40% of the population can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island where the Statue of Liberty, the “mother of exiles,” still lifts her lamp and stands over the invitation: “Give me your tired, your poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. . .” As we struggle with our economy and mature as a country, let us not forget our ideals of hope and freedom and opportunity. Help us avoid oppression of the alien and the poor and those who struggle to survive, and to encourage mercy and justice at home and abroad. Help us to reflect your love in actions and not just in words. In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.
Tags:alien, country, immigrants, immigration, oppression, Prayer, USA, welcome
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June 28, 2009
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him. 1 John 2:9-11
Lord, we look to Iran and see that people who we feared and disparaged have more in common with our own hopes and dreams than we once thought possible. As we observe their struggle, help us to examine our willingness to label others, to judge without understanding, to fear those who are different, and to separate our world into “us” and “them”.
Hate isolates us from others, helping us to ignore those in need. Hate feeds our anger and fear, enabling others to manipulate our emotions and actions. We fail to look within and hold ourselves accountable, preferring to shift blame “to those people”– democrat or republican, young or old, rich or poor, immigrant or foreigner, white or black — who are our current target.
Help us Lord to move past hate. Help us to see those in need and respond with compassion and empathy. Whether talking to neighbors or listening to political leaders or media reports, help us to challenge the simple solutions, personalized attacks, accusations, and catch-phrases, that only serve to inflame and mislead rather than inform. Help us to reach out to one another in respect and in love. Help us each to take on the responsibility of working to build a country, and a world, that better reflects your grace.
Help us O Lord.
Amen
Tags:country, hate, politics, Prayer, USA, wisdom
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June 21, 2009
If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. . . . Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galations 6:3, 7-9.
Lord, throughout our country and in the media there are those who, with insolent self righteousness, do not hesitate to attack the virtues, values, and sincerity of others. We scoff at efforts to reach out to others, dismiss empathetic expressions as weakness, and question those who would be honest about our history. As we watch the struggles of others for freedom we seek to condemn and control, looking for domestic political advantage. We challenge new approaches and policies as too little, not enough, or as destined to fail yet do not offer alternatives. Mocking others has become a form of entertainment.
Our cynicism keeps us from hope, from looking for and finding the path you would have us follow. As one pundit observed, “Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It’s unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don’t have to try.” (Peggy Noonan). Lord give us the courage to try. Help us to recognize you in acts of kindness, forgiveness, patience and love. Like King David, help us to admit our weakness before both you and others, and seek your help. Strengthen us to do the work you have put before us and teach us to care for each other. Help us to be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Ro. 12:12
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen
Tags:country, cynicism, politics, Prayer, USA, wisdom
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June 14, 2009
Do not call conspiracy everything these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. Is. 8:12
Lord, in our fast and noisy world it can be hard to discern which way to go. Many of the loudest voices feed our fears. We fear enemies both real and imagined. We fear change. We fear a future we can neither predict nor control. To calm our fears we demand immediate and simplistic fixes, forgoing the effort to understand the complex realities before us. We turn away from wisdom. Full of fear, we close our doors and fail to reach out to help others in our communities. We turn away from love. Fearing what we cannot understand, we focus on the close reality of our possessions. We fail to hear your call; we fail to seek your presence.
Yet you O Lord are with us always, ready to strengthen us and help us. (Is. 41:10) Help us to move away from our fears and hear your voice. Let us learn to say with the psalmist, “I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Ps. 34:4 Help us to try new directions, to face our fears and speak against the voices that would mislead us. Help us to trust in you, and guide us O Lord.
Amen
Tags:country, fear, politics, Prayer, USA, wisdom
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June 7, 2009
“Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? . . . You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Mt. 7:1-5
Lord, in a week where a man who was a husband, father, grandfather, friend, and physician was murdered in church, help us to see that violence is not the answer.
As we try to move forward through the difficult issues of our day, help us to look at the full humanity of others and be aware that we cannot fully understand your will.
As we each work out our own salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), help us to respect the struggles and judgments of others whose trials are many and different than ours. Where our judgments and values clash, help us to trust simply in the knowledge that some day you will judge the living and the dead, and to resist the temptations of self-righteousness, and of judging or demonizing others.
As your servant, Dr. Martin Luther King, taught us: “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
Lord, let your light shine into our lives and deliver us from darkness. Help us each to love despite our differences, and teach us to forgive. Lead us, O Lord.
Amen.
Tags:country, forgiveness, love, politics, Prayer, USA, violence
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May 31, 2009
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Ps. 90:12
In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned. Titus 2: 7-8
Lord, may our democratic belief that all men are created equal find expression in our public schools.
Let our children be met with both compassion and the challenge of personal accountability. Let them be safe.
Help our schools provide real mentors who demonstrate character, effort, and a passion for learning.
Help us to fund our schools in ways that in fact give real opportunity to all.
Help us to provide all students with opportunities to learn through art and music, technical training and service. Help us to preserve our children’s curiosity, expose them to the ideas and history that will help them aspire to lead worthy lives, and also promote the analytical, independent, and rigorous thinking needed to navigate both modern politics and economies.
Let development of our educational policies be guided by leaders whose concern for our children and our democracy outweighs both the comfort of sticking with existing systems and the attraction of personal power.
Guide us, so that our schools might one day fulfill the Jeffersonian ideal of equipping our children to be the guardians of their own liberty, while teaching them to use that liberty wisely, so that our democratic form of government might survive.
Guide us toward justice and wisdom, O Lord, we pray.
Amen.
Tags:country, democracy, learning, politics, Prayer, public schools, USA, wisdom
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Prayers For Our Country 