[Oe List ...] Salmon on Gene Robinson's inauguration prayer

Wed Feb 4 02:45:51 EST 2009

A hearty AMEN and thanks for sending this along.

Admittedly I find it increasingly difficult to honestly pray for tears, 
anger, and discomfort, even when they are obviously needed.

John

At 09:28 PM 2/3/2009 -0600, you wrote:
>So much more and so much the better. Thanks Diann. Bill
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:dm14 at txstate.edu>McCabe, Diann A
>To: <mailto:oe at wedgeblade.net>Order Ecumenical Community
>Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 9:14 PM
>Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Salmon on Gene Robinson's inauguration prayer
>
>This prayer is very moving--I have sent it to others.  In checking, I see 
>that there is more:
>
>
><http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/faith_and_politics/gene_robinsons_prayer_for_pres.html>+Gene 
>Robinson's Prayer for President-elect Barack Obama
>
>
>
>A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama
>(<http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/media/in_case_you_missed_ithere_is_w.html>Also 
>available on You Tube).
>
>By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
>
>Opening Inaugural Event
>Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
>January 18, 2009
>
>Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join 
>me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our 
>next president.
>
>O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will

>
>Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on 
>less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and 
>raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, 
>malaria, and AIDS.
>
>Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against 
>refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual 
>and transgender people.
>
>Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve 
>preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about 
>ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to 
>the challenges of the future.
>
>Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will 
>be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a 
>human being, not a messiah.
>
>Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must 
>always be balanced with those of the world.
>
>Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine 
>respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in 
>our diversity, we are stronger.
>
>Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every 
>religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the 
>human community, whether across town or across the world.
>
>And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the 
>office of President of the United States.
>
>Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s 
>reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our 
>best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
>
>Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain 
>in these times.
>
>Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to 
>make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges 
>ahead.
>
>Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his 
>leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
>
>Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that 
>experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of 
>those who are still its victims.
>
>Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him 
>remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at 
>his daughters’ childhoods.
>
>And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, 
>and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his 
>wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, 
>to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the 
>work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible 
>calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of 
>integrity, prosperity and peace.
>
>AMEN.
>
>
>
>--Diann McCabe, San Marcos, TX
>
>
>----------
>From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of 
>William Salmon [wsalmon at cox.net]
>Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 11:00 AM
>To: Ecumenical Order
>Subject: [Oe List ...] Salmon on Gene Robinson's inauguration prayer
>
>Colleagues:
>     So much has been shared on the closing inaugural prayer, but little 
> or nothing has been said about the prayer, offered the night before, by 
> Bishop Gene Robinson -- the first Anglican openly gay bishop. You'll 
> remember it was   inadvertently left out of the national programming, but 
> later reprised on the Washington Mall. Here it is:
>
>     O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will . . . .
>Bless us with tears -- for a world in which over a billion people exist on 
>less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and 
>raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, 
>malaria and AIDS.
>Bless us with anger -- at discrimination, at home and abroad, against 
>refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian and 
>transgender people.
>Bless us with discomfort -- at the easy, simplistic "answers" we've 
>preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about 
>ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to 
>the challenges of the future.
>Bless us with humility -- open to understanding that our own needs must 
>always be balanced with those of the world.
>Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance -- replacing it with a genuine 
>respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in 
>our diversity, we are stronger.
>Bless us with compassion and generosity -- remembering that every 
>religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the 
>human community , whether across town or across the world.
>     Now, can I have an, "Amen?"
>     Pastor Bill
>
>
>
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