Read More About Jena.
Jena was invited to lead the closing prayer at the conclusion of the first day of the National Democratic Convention (Tuesday, Sept. 4). Rich Hoops, Chairman of the Board for Blood:Water Mission said this about the invitation:
As an organization, we clearly see that our work in justice, health and hope are not partisan issues. It's our faith that motivates and compels us to act and invite all who fight for injustice to work together, regardless of background or party affiliation. It's at the core of our mission, and we will continue to bring people together to empower communities to work together, both here and abroad, to fight the HIV/AIDS and water crises in Africa.
We invite you to pray with Jena as she leads our country in a prayer for hope, healing and unity. Thank you for your partnership to that end as we serve our brothers and sisters in Africa.Here is the thoughtful, unity-building, life-affirming, action-provoking, hopeful, and Christ-following prayer she prayed. It's a prayer I can wholeheartedly pray with her and I raise my voice to join her with a sincere "Amen."
As a young woman of faith and a leader, I am humbled to follow the First Lady, whom we all admire. So, thank you for inviting me here. As we close this day, let us quiet our hearts in prayer.
God, I stand before You and ask that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing unto You.
I pray for our President, Barack Obama. May he know Your presence, oh God, as he continues to serve as a leader of this nation, as a husband to Michelle, and as father to his daughters. Help him to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with you.
I pray as well for Governor Mitt Romney. May he know Your presence, oh God, as he continues to serve as a leader, as a husband to Ann, and as a father to his sons and their families. Help him to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with you.
I pray for our country in the next nine weeks leading up to this election – for those of us meeting here and for our fellow citizens who met last week. May we make our children proud of how we conduct ourselves. We know our human tendencies toward finger-pointing and frivolousness. Our better selves want this race to be honest and edifying rather than fabricated and self-serving.
Give us, oh Lord, humility to listen to our sisters and brothers across the political spectrum, because your kingdom is not divided into Red States and Blue States. Equip us with moral imagination to have real discourse. Knit us, oh God, as one country even as we wrestle over the complexity of how we ought to live and govern. Give us gratitude for our right to dissent and disagree. For we know that we are bound up in one another and have been given the tremendous opportunity to extend humanity and grace when others voice their deeply held convictions even when they differ from our own.
And give us wisdom, God, to discover honest solutions for we know it will take all of us to care for the widow and the orphan, the sick and the lonely, the downtrodden and the unemployed, the prisoner and the homeless, the stranger and the enemy, the thirsty and the powerless. In rural Africa, I am witness to thousands of HIV positive mothers, fathers and children who are alive today because Democrats and Republicans put justice and mercy above partisanship. Help us keep that perspective even as we debate one another.
God, I thank you for the saving grace of Jesus and for the saints who have humbly gone before us. I thank you for the words of St. Francis of Assisi whose prayer I carry with me both in my home in East Nashville and in my work across rural Africa.
As we enter this election season, I pray St. Francis’ words for us all.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
It was so great to hear her prayer. Thanks for posting the text here, Dave.
ReplyDeleteI get exasperated sometimes from the onslaught of divisive politics making their way into religious thought, and vice-a-versa. As soon as a political party has an opportunity to point out some sort of faith-based flaw in the other party or candidate, it sends people into a frenzy. It drives them to their corners, rather than bringing people together. The Facebook memes get drawn up and shared, and people start taking impressions that lack foundation and sharing them as elements of fact that are only supported only by prejudice.
I struggle with whether or not religion has a place in politics. As we watched Elizabeth Warren's speech last night, Sarah and I wondered aloud whether it was appropriate for her to quote Matthew 25:40. Was her intent to bring people together in a call to treat the poor and middle class with equity and dignity, or to judge and divide? Many people may have seen it as an attempt to say "they (Republicans) are doing wrong, and we (Democrats) are doing right." (I also didn't think it helped to quote it in KJV either, IMO)
Any use of religion in the political arena should be used to bring people together. To foster the recognition of the common ground of all people as children of God. That is why this prayer from Mrs. Nardella was spot-on, and appropriate -- for either convention.