The Future, Part Two

Over the weekend, HBO presented live coverage of pre-inaugural festivities from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. There were speakers, politicians, musicians. Will.I.Am sang a Bob Marley song with Sheryl Crowe. Garth Brooks did a medley that included "Bye bye Miss American Pie". Jack Black tried to appear sincere. It was kind of like the Grammy Awards.

But there has since been some controversy because the opening prayer for the event, by Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, was not included in the broadcast.

HBO and the producer of the event have said that that Bishop Robinson's words were always meant to precede the broadcast, and that this was at the request of the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC). A subsequent statement from the PIC communications director said,

"We had always intended and planned for Rt. Rev. Robinson's invocation to be included in the televised portion of yesterday's program. We regret the error in executing this plan - but are gratified that hundreds of thousands of people who gathered on the mall heard his eloquent prayer for our nation that was a fitting start to our event."

Bishop Robinson is the first openly-gay Bishop in the Episcopal (Anglican) Church--or any other major church, for that matter--and his ascendancy created a good deal of controversy both within and without the church--and probably in my father's heart.

But regardless, his invocation is worth reading, perhaps as a counterpoint to the invocation to be offered tomorrow by Pastor Rick Warren, a supporter of Prop. 8 in California (and pastor at a church which, at least until very recently would not accept gay members unless they were "willing to repent of their homosexual lifestyle").

Here's what Bishop Robinson had to say. Barack Obama was in attendance.

Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God's blessing upon our nation and our next president.

O 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.

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're 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.