Prayers for our Country

 

Prayers for our Nation – January 20

Today is the inauguration of President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.  Our nation faces many, many challenges of the pandemic and polarization; too much anger and distrust; violence and discrimination and pain that has been unprocessed.  As we have heard the past two days from Dr. King. As humans we can give lots of thought to length and breadth of our life, but we can miss the third dimension – height of life.  The call to pay attention to the mystery that is beyond us.  Our connection to the Spirit that abides before and behind us; God’s light within us.  Hear how Dr. King speaks about height:

And I’m here to tell you today that we need God. Modern man may know a great deal, but his knowledge does not eliminate God. And I tell you this morning that God is here to stay. A few theologians are trying to say that God is dead. And I’ve been asking them about it because it disturbs me to know that God died and I didn’t have a chance to attend the funeral. They haven’t been able to tell me yet the date of his death. They haven’t been able to tell me yet who the coroner was that pronounced him dead.  They haven’t been able to tell me yet where he’s buried.  You see, when I think about God, I know his name. He said somewhere, back in the Old Testament, "I want you to go out, Moses, and tell them ‘I Am’ sent you."  He said just to make it clear, let them know that "my last name is the same as my first, ‘I Am that I Am.’ Make that clear. I Am." And God is the only being in the universe that can say "I Am" and put a period behind it. Each of us sitting here has to say, "I am because of my parents; I am because of certain environmental conditions; I am because of certain hereditary circumstances; I am because of God." But God is the only being that can just say, "I Am" and stop right there. "I Am that I Am." And He’s here to stay. Let nobody make us feel that we don’t need God.  As I come to my conclusion this morning, I want to say that we should search for him. We were made for God, and we will be restless until we find rest in him. 

Prayer: Here I am, O God.  Here You are, O God.  Here we are together.  We pray for a lasting peace within us and across our country today.  May God’s grace guide and ground as we face the challenges before us individually and collectively.  Amen.