A Prayer for Interfaith Action

I was pleased to be asked to give the Invocation at the Flint Area Congregations Together public meeting with Fr. John Baumann, SJm founder of the PICO National Network who visited Flint to share with us our vision for our future.

I asked those assembled at St. John Vianney Parish to assume the posture of prayer that was the one that spoke most personally to each of us. We're different, and some of us kneel, some sit, some stand. At the same time, because "we're all in this together," I asked that each person find someone's hand to hold. And then I prayed this 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 Thyself

in the Mystery of life and the Wonder of creation,

in the Faith kept by generations for their own kith and kin,

in the Love of parents for their children,

in the Hope evidenced by communities of people coming together as we do
to mark a sacred moment,
to experience a transcendent power,
to be a holy people,

be with us, O Divine presence, today, in all your power.

Speak to us as you have in all the prophetic witnesses,
the women and men of the ages
who have looked at the world as it is,
and imagined a world that might be,

Speak to us as have all our teachers,
our Moses, our Socrates,
our Jesus, our Mohammed,

Speak to us as did our brother Mohandas, our sister Dorothy,
our leaders Cesar and Sojourner and Harriet,
our martyrs Harvey and Oscar and Martin,

Enter our hearts, Spirit of Life and Truth,
as you have in all the ages and all the places
so that we may breathe into this place,
our beloved city Flint,
and into this time, this very moment,
a word of promise and hope,

that we may see the powerful community we are,
and know the powerful transformative work we are called to do.

For the sake of our children and our children’s children,
and in the name of all that is holy we pray,

Blessed be. Amen.

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."