Posts Tagged ‘politics’

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Memory Guides Us

September 13, 2009

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the names of the wicked will rot. Pr. 10:7

Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? Mk 8:18

Lord, we thank you for our museums, monuments, and memorials.  We thank you for museums that save knowledge and educate new generations so that we do not repeat our mistakes, and for museums that preserve the art of past generations so that we may be inspired and find new ways of understanding our world.  We thank you for monuments that record our history and help us measure progress.  We thank you for memorials that remind us of sacrifices made, of lives well lived, and of the greater purposes of life.  The Liberty Memorial in Kansas City states at its base: “The memorial also symbolizes the obligation that rests upon present and future generations to preserve that for which those men and women offered their all, and from many of whom the supreme sacrifice was accepted.  May their memory live on, and may every American who looks upon this noble edifice be inspired by their devotion.”  As we see our history before us O Lord, help us to both celebrate and grieve those who have given lives in defense of our country, those who lost their lives in terrorist attacks both domestic and foreign, and those who have died while working to preserve the safety and security of others.  May their lives inspire us to work harder to meet our obligations to past and future generations, to serve others, and to trust in you O Lord.

Amen.

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Teach The Children Well

September 6, 2009

For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, Pr. 6:23

It was President Kennedy who said, “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.”  As our children begin a new school year we pray for their learning, and for their future.   Help them to develop a knowledge and love of history, so they might avoid the mistakes of the past; a knowledge and respect for science, so they might be informed and make wise choices when faced with the complex issues of their day; a knowledge and understanding of numbers, so that they might not be misled by isolated statistics and projections; a knowledge, curiosity, and tolerance of other cultures, so that they might understand and value the breadth of creation; and a love of reading so that they might be life-long learners.  Let them be exposed to all of the arts, so that they may experience the joy of creativity.  May they develop the capacity to distinguish fiction from fact, and also the ability to integrate information, ideas, and values in ways that help them find direction, purpose, and meaning in their lives. Through their teachers let them learn care, compassion, and love for others; discipline and self-control; and the satisfaction of producing results through hard work.  Let our children find in their schools both mentors and counselors who understand their potential and who connect them with new ideas, people, and opportunities.  And let their schools find support in their  surrounding communities for adequate funding, fair standards, and the provision of real opportunities for all.  We say the children are our future.  Help us to invest in all of our children as if we believed it were so.   And help us make progress, O Lord.  Amen

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Hope in the Unseen

August 30, 2009

. . . But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:24-25

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Strengthen us O Lord that we might maintain hope for our future.  Hope for a future where there is peace at home and abroad; where moderation is valued more than excess; and hope outweighs fear.  Hope for a future where pursuing justice includes working to dismantle the inequalities that lead to anger and despair.  Hope for a future where all individuals have a real opportunity to develop and use the talents you have given. Hope for a future where all are fed, the sick are cared for, and contributing to the prosperity of the community is as valued by individual citizens as is the pursuit of personal wealth.  Help us each to see that, in the words of Jonathan Mitchel, it is “the work of every one, according to the compass of his capacity and opportunity, to seek the welfare of the place and people, where & among whom he lives”, and that “Love thy Neighbour, much more a whole Community, a multitude of thy Neighbours, is the Lord’s charge to everyone.” (from the sermon “Nehemiah on the Wall”, 1667).  Strengthen our faith to pursue even incremental change, knowing that over the course of a lifetime such changes can change the course of a nation. Give us the courage to move forward, and the will to persevere.  Strengthen us O Lord.

Amen

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Courage to Govern

August 23, 2009

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps. 139: 23-24

Lord, renew our capacity to govern.  With more than one state in gridlock, factionalism promoted in the media as a national sport, and a public that is at turns fearful, angry, discouraged and uncomprehending, we need your help once again.

Your word has guided us many times before.  The 17th century preacher Jonathan Mitchel in an election sermon delivered in Boston on May 15, 1667 titled ‘Nehemiah on the Wall in Troublesome Times”, looked to the prophet Nehemiah as an example for those who govern — a leader who with fearlessness and fidelity, self-denial and compassion, prudence and piety, worked to promote and maintain the welfare of all the people.  Promoting and maintaining the welfare of the people, even in those early days of our history, was recognized to include pursuing “civil honesty”; promoting community prosperity by ensuring that all had access to the necessaries of life; and working “to quiet complaints and contentions, and to heal the dissatisfactions that arose among them”.  Good leaders, as Mitchell pointed out, do more than simply talk of the common good, they “put forth utmost and best endeavors to procure, promote and maintain it; to study it, and to speak for it; to act for it”.

Help us Lord find such leaders, and to encourage those we have.  And help us, as democratic citizens, find the courage to accept difficult realities, to confront special interests that seek to manipulate and control, and to try new paths. Give us the strength and discipline as a people to be studious, concerned and thoughtful about our common needs;  to control our fears, and to pursue compassion, patience,  and wisdom.

And help us yet again find our way through another troublesome time, and to emerge as a kinder, wiser people.

In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen

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Mistrust Is Like A Cancer

August 16, 2009

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”  Pr. 31:9

Our mistrust is like a cancer – it grows rapidly, saps our energy, and metastasizes in unpredictable ways.  There are so many voices, so much information untethered to context, and so many predictions of doom that we look at each other with suspicion and freeze.  Our hope that the common good can break through our political web slowly fades.  Doubt creeps toward despair.  Yet we are not alone. You, Lord, are always with us, and with you all things are possible. (Mt. 19:26). Let not our fear and suspicion turn us from wisdom. With confidence and compassion let us focus on your commands to rescue those in need (Ps. 82:3-4); to speak up, judge fairly, and defend the rights of the poor (Pr. 13:12); to have compassion on the sick and to care for each other (Mt. 25: 36-40; Dt: 15:11).  Help us to reconcile our differences as we pursue our pledge of “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Encourage us, and guide us forward with your amazing grace, so that we might also say, in the words of the hymn, “through many trials, toils and snares, we have already come, ’twas grace that saw us through thus far and grace will see us home.”

Amen

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Out of the Mud and the Mire

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

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By Their Words You Shall Know Them

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

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Truth Will Set You Free

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

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Distracted and Misled

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.

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Healing Hate

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

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