HBO did not broadcast the invocation given by the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire opening the We Are One concert yesterday at the Lincoln Memorial. Bishop Robinson is most often referred to in the press as "the gay bishop" because he is the first bishop in the Episcopal Church to refuse to lie about his sexual orientation and his partnered life. The reason the Episcopalians of New Hampshire chose him to be their bishop is because he is a powerful and challenging preacher and, in my opinion, a great Christian leader.
It's a source of great sadness for me that the word "Christian" has become a synonym in the minds of many for "ignorant bigot." One of the reasons I love the Episcopal Church, for all its many flaws, is that we can raise up voices like Bishop Robinson's.
And to those of you who have excellent reasons to hate Christianity, and to those who's motivation to participate in the healing of the world comes from other denominations, other religions or no religion at all, I say "peace". The purpose of this diary is to offer an opportunity to hear one voice who was given this very public forum by our soon to be President Obama on the first day of his inaugural celebration.
The body of this diary is the text of Bishop Robinson's prayer. This was forwarded to me by a friend of a friend, who was there. I am also including a link:
http://www.youtube.com/...
The Most Rev. Gene Robinson
Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
Invocation, Inaugural Concert
Lincoln Memorial
Washington, D.C.
Jan. 18, 2009 2:20 p.m. EST
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 daily 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’ve preferred 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 anytime soon, and the understanding that our new 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.
And bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable.
And God, we give you thanks for your child, Barack, as he assumes the office of 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 the 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 are asking far too much of this one. We implore You, O good and great God, to keep him safe; hold him in the palm of Your hand, that he might do the work 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.