National Day of Prayer

General Washington at Prayer at Valley Forge
An Icon of our Heritage

This morning, St. John's hosts the kick off breakfast for the National Day of prayer, so I am up very early to do my chores and open the church.  Quincy, our Westie, accompanied me to the barn and greenhouse in the rain to accomplish the morning routine.  Princess, the thoroughbred/arab mare was jiggy as always as the heavy spring rains pelted the tin roof of the barn.  Both terriers are now asleep on the couch as I consider the priviledge of following the biblical mandate to pray for those in lawful authority over us. 

Since the early days of the Republic, America's leaders have set aside times for vountary prayer on behalf of our nation by people of faith.  In the worst of times, some people or parties have attempted to hijack these times for their own purposes, but when we are at our best, such times have brought out the best in us.  Imagine a place where people of differing faiths commit to a common cause, a common good if you will, even when their differences abound.  They may consider one another's opinions to be false or misguided, but they fiercely maintain the rights of all people to follow their individual consciences, even when those individual consciences lead them to different conclusions.  They all acknowledge the importance of respecting all, and together, in spite of their differences they organize athletic teams, build schools and hospitals, and acknowledge the importance of a generally agreed common good.  While they may disagree in matters of religion and faith, and even consider one another bound for perdition, they respect the right of every citizen to worship God according to the dictates of their own heritage and conscience, or not to worship God at all.  Occasionally, at the behest of their elected leaders, they agree to call out to God, or to meditate as they will, for the support and good of those institutions and individuals in lawful authority for the good of all.  It is a heady doctrine, an unlikely combination, a glorious dream, and so often we fall so short in its accomplishment.  But on this day, many of us will ask in all humility, according to the dictates of conscience, that it might be more of a reality among us.

May God bless these United States of America.