Resource: The Book of Common Prayer. copyright 1979, The Episcopal Church
Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges: Guide the people of the United States in the election of officials and representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to the other nations of the earth. Teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name.
Reflections from Bishop Stephen Charleston, Chocktaw. Former bishop of Alaska, former Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge MA. Quoted by the Rev. Allen Ewing Merrill in last night’s prayer service. Here we are, sitting in the waiting room of history, both observers and participants at the same time, a small part of a great story, watching the clock of change bring us to a moment we may dread but anticipate, the answer to so many questions we never thought we would ask. It is good to be together in times like this because times like this have never been before. We are about to open a door, a door we can pass through only once, then a new journey begins, the shape of things before us revealed.
How strange it feels, the anxiety of not knowing, the hope of believing, the calm center of faith, the nervous edges of anticipation. I just want you to know, whatever happens tomorrow, it has been a genuine blessing to travel with you this far. I could not have made it without you. And it will be an honor to stand beside you when the door of history opens to show us an even greater blessing to come. Behold the hour of the Spirit has come, moving through our history like a deep current, an underground river, flowing beneath the surface of our daily lives, changing the very ground on which we stand. Behold the power of the Spirit, lifting up the broken and the oppressed, breathing new hope into old souls, creating a garden in the desert for generations to come. We are called. Each one of us, all of us, we are called by name now, called to see what happens when history is made, called to put our own hands into the soft clay of creation, called to craft the shape of things to come. Behold the liberation of the captives, the freeing of the human spirit, as a new light contends with an old shadow, and the silence is broken by a shout of freedom. We will not forget this day. None of us will forget this day. And we will never be the same again.
