Gene Robinson's Invocation - Jan. 18, 2009

[Rick336]

Bishop Gene Robinson's Invocation at the Inauguration's Opening Ceremony


Good afternoon,

Before this celebration begins, please join me in pausing for a moment to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.

Oh God of our many understandings, we pray that you will bless us with tears, tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die a day from malnutrition, malaria and AIDS.

Bless this nation with anger – anger at discrimination at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants; women, people of color; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort at the easy simplistic answers we prefer to hear from our politicians instead of the truth about ourselves and our world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be fixed any time soon and the understanding that our next president is a human being, not a messiah. Bless us with humility, open to understanding that our own needs as a nation must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance, replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences.

Bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the ways we care for the most vulnerable. And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office fo the president of the United States. Give him wisdom beyond his years, inspire him with President Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for all people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our ship of state needs a steady calm captain. Give him stirring words, we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color blind reminding him of his own words that under his leadership there will be neither red nor blue states but a United States. Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him strength to find family time and privacy and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods. And please God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents and we’re asking far too much of this one, we implore you oh good and great God to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand that he might do the work that we have called him to do. That he might find joy in this impossible calling and that, in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

Amen.

Bishop Gene Robinson - January 18, 2009

[Matt Algren]

Even though HBO decided not to air the invocation (nobody knows why), we do have video of the event.

[Daniel]

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/01/obama-team-apol.html

One result? Robinson's prayer may be broadcast in the morning to kick off things.

As a close friend of mine would say....

There are no accidents.

[antiochian]

Very, very good prayer. Out with the old, in with the new! Crossing my fingers and hoping for some changes these next 4 years....

As for the man who is retiring to Texas:

[dsdrane]

Originally Posted by Daniel

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/01/obama-team-apol.html

Towleroad is only passing along the Obama Presidential Inauguration Committee's spokeman's expression of "regret".

"Regret" is not an apology.

"Regret" is passing the buck.

[dsdrane]

HBO, whether they were complicate or not, should ABSOLUTELY broadcast +Gene's invocation. Dash hated it, but I liked it...regardless, people should be able to hear it...if only to right a wrong.