A Prayer for America

After voting and phone banking and donating and blogging and everything else I know to do, my final diary and final message of this long election season before the big day tomorrow is simply a prayer for our nation.

In a spirit of hope and love, I pray for our nation tomorrow:

On this election day, may we embrace as a nation the best of who we are: the values of freedom, responsibility, equal worth of all persons, economic opportunity for all, one person one vote, peaceful transfer of power, Constitutional rights, balance of power, justice and accountability, moral and military restraint, and hope for a better future.

May we reject our worst tendencies: fear, greed, corruption, hypocrisy, self-righteousness, abuse of power, the domination of the many by the few, subversion of democracy, a drive toward empire, environmental destruction, blindness to the world around us, and cynical lies or dirty tricks for personal or political gain.

May tomorrow be the beginning of a new transformation, another turning, as we have done before: as we turned from slavery, from the denial of the vote for women, from the witch hunts of McCarthy and the denial of voting rights to people of color.

Many times in our history, we have done things as a nation for which we are now ashamed.  Many times we have changed and turned and taken new stands of which we are now proud.

May we now turn especially from the poison of fear, and from a government that manipulates and exploits that fear to consolidate power and to deny the very rights that our nation's founders held to be inalienable.

We know that our work is just begun, that many wrongs will remain and many trials and challenges will face us no matter what outcome we choose tomorrow. But our choice will send a signal, shine a beacon, set a course for the direction we will follow in the months and years ahead.

Let us remember that there is, indeed, a great deal at stake in this election.

May the hearts of each and every American be moved to look beyond partisan loyalties, beyond prejudice, beyond limited perceptions of self-interest, beyond whipped-up fear, beyond dirty tricks, to vote for the sake of the common good, for the restoration of our democracy, for a turn toward hope and integrity of government once again.

The opportunity is now.  The time is upon us.  It is up to us as a people; let us choose wisely.

May peace prevail in our hearts, and may peace prevail on earth.

Blessed be America on our day of choice tomorrow.

Amen.

•  Blessed be

  each and every one of us tomorrow.

  by UU VIEW on Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 09:52:24 PM PDT

  •  Beautifully done, UU View......

    for a turn toward hope and integrity of government once again.

    I don't think we are asking for too much.  And it shouldn't be such a rare commodity, either.

    Thank you for your lovely prayer.

    by Cronesense on Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 09:55:32 PM PDT

•  Recommending.

  Hope some of the legions of tired volunteers find this beautiful diary.

  by skwimmer on Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 10:07:53 PM PDT

•  Wonderful

  Very well done, thanks for taking the time to write this.

  by Olds88 on Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 10:09:22 PM PDT

•  A hymn for election day...

  In Times of Great Decision

  Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

  In times of great decision,
  Be with us, God, we pray!
  Give each of us a vision
  Of Jesus’ loving way.
  When louder words seem endless
  And other voices sure,
  Remind us of your promise:
  Your love and truth endure.

  O God, whose gifts are countless,
  You send us bearing peace.
  You fill our dreams with justice
  For all communities.
  You give us global neighbors
  That all may justly live.
  May those we choose as leaders
  Reflect the life you give.

  O God, you bridged the distance;
  You opened wide your door.
  You call us by our presence
  To reach to serve the poor.
  You teach us: Welcome strangers!
  Seek justice on the earth!
  May those we choose as leaders
  See every person’s worth.

  You call on every nation
  To put aside all greed,
  To care for your creation
  And for your ones in need,
  To care for those in prison,
  For children, for the ill.
  In times of great decision,
  May we choose leaders well.

  http://www.ncccusa.org/...

  by KTinOhio on Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 10:17:45 PM PDT

•  Amen

  thanks for the spiritual recharge.

  This UU gives you a well-deserved recommend.

  by Femlaw on Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 11:12:21 PM PDT

•  Thanks, UU View

  You expressed it so very well.  With this election being such a focused act of self-determination, it hadn't occurred to me to put these thoughts into prayer.  You've done it for me, and better than I could have.  Thank you!

  Polls open in a half hour.  I'll be one of the first to vote here today I imagine, so I can head out and help drive canvassers today, and whatever else they need us to do at the Sestak headquarters.  I'm not usually the early bird but today I will be.  It's time for change -- in many ways.

  by joanneleon on Tue Nov 07, 2006 at 03:34:26 AM PDT