Hillary stumping for Barack

I was ever-so-pleased to be asked by the Genesee County Barack Obama campaign to give the opening Invocation tonight at Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's appearance in Flint. The gymnasium at Carman-Ainsworth High School was packed, and Senator Clinton was at the top of her game--sharp, funny, passionate, clear. The crowd loved her and loved her message.

After the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem, I asked that everyone hold someone's hand. "We're all in this together," I said.

Here's my prayer . . .

"O Thou whom no person at any time hath seen,

And yet who, in all the ages and places of the human story,

hath revealed yourself

in the hope of parents for their children

in the faith of all who care for our elders, for the infirm,

for the dispossessed and the abandoned,

and in the love that we know and we strive to share with others,

reveal yourself again to us.

"Be with us, divine presence, in our hearts, in our minds and in our actions

as we come together, a people in a blessed nation,

called to be each other's keepers,

and called to accept the challenge of democracy as our own.

"Let us believe in each other and in the common good.

Let us live into the promises of our nation

of equality, freedom and shared prosperity.

Let us consider wisely our selection of leaders

and the expectations we place upon them.

"O holy One, known in each house of worship, in all holy words,

in deeds of righteousness and mercy,

and in the beauty of this created world;

be with us and our nation in the weeks and days before us

  and even in this very moment.

Bless us and our nation that we might be a blessing to this word.

"By every holy name we pray, Amen."