Happy Fourth of July!
Message From Marissa
Dear Friends,
As Christians, we are called to be people of prayer. And as Episcopalians, we inherit a heritage of prayer that calls us into relationship with the people around us. Before the Revolutionary War, when we were part of the Church of England, the Church said prayers for the country and the monarch. After the Revolution, our language changed, of course, but the tradition of praying for our country and our leaders remained important to us. Those prayers are still in our Book of Common Prayer, and if you read them, you'll notice that as we pray for the nation, we're praying for something very specific: God's dream of a just and fair society.
In the prayer below, we ask God to give the people of this country a deep desire for justice and to help us use our freedom in accordance with God's will, to love and serve our neighbors. In others, we ask for God's help ensuring that all people might experience the freedoms for which we strive in this country. And in others we ask for wise leaders who will help us build this just and fair place where all people are respected, safe, and able to participate in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
As the heat of the day rises today, as the fireworks go off tonight, I hope that you will be moved to remember this tradition of prayer; prayer that offers us the chance to give thanks and prayer that calls the best out of us - not just with our words, but also in our actions. As we give thanks today for the freedoms we enjoy, may God's dream burn within us and call us to a deeper desire for the day when all God's children know the freedom of Christ and the peace that comes from love. May ours be the hands that build and secure freedom for all of God's people. May ours be the hearts that love peace into being. May ours be the eyes that see God's dream of justice for all.
Happy Fourth! Hope to see you on Sunday when we will pray together.
Faithfully,
--Marissa +
For the Nation
Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[The Book of Common Prayer, page 258]
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