Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Empathy Mining

Home
Progressive Christian
Better next time: A prayer for leadership

Better next time: A prayer for leadership

Last updated on: October 10, 2017 at 5:18 pm by Shane Phipps

Better next time: A prayer for leadership 2017-10-10T17:18:15-04:00 Shane Phipps

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“I pray Heaven to bestow The Best OF BLESSINGS ON THIS HOUSE and All that shall hereafter Inhabit it, May none but Honest and wise Men ever rule under this Roof.”

-John Adams

White-House-inscription-by-John-Adams

Fireplace mantel in White House State Dining Room

That short but powerful prayer by one of our most important founding fathers, our 2nd president, and the first man to reside in the White House, is etched into the fireplace mantel in the State Dining Room.

I believe that we, as a nation, need to begin praying that prayer again in earnest. No matter which side of the political aisle you stand on, Surely, the one thing most of us can agree to is that we can do better.

Yes, we can do so much better.

Let us pray:

Most merciful God, hear our prayer.

We live in a nation built on the highest of ideals. We have the potential for greatness. When we’ve lived up to our own creed, we’ve done wonderful things. When we’ve lost sight of that, we have fallen hard.

Our sins are many.

In our words and documents, we lift everyone up as equal. We speak fondly of the American Dream and how it is available to all who would seek it.

Yet, we have withheld that dream and mistreated millions of people–Native Americans–African Americans–immigrants–women–the poor–those with mental illness–those who have different sexual orientation–the list goes on and on. Our history of dealing with the least of these, our brothers and sisters, is not nearly as admirable as our creed. Indeed, we have consistently fallen short of your glory.

We don’t deserve your grace, but we beg it of you.

We have reached a turning point.

We have come to a place where no admirable leaders appear before us on our horizon. In our last election we were faced with a choice about which very few Americans could be excited.

Where, oh Lord, are our Washingtons? Where are our Adamses? Where are our Jeffersons, our Madisons, Lincolns, and Roosevelts? Those leaders were all flawed humans with many faults, like all of us, but they were men of deep wisdom. They possessed admirable leadership qualities. They comported themselves with class and upheld the dignity of the highest office of the land.

Despite their flaws, our nation could be proud of the likes of those leaders.

And now, here we are.

Look how far we have fallen, Lord. Hear our pleas.

Faced with the choice of Hillary or Donald, most of us had to vote against someone rather than for someone.

Anyone but Hillary

Never Trump

These now pass for acceptable campaign slogans–and look what it has gotten us.

We have a leader in power that shows no dignity, no kindness, and no grace. Instead of reaching out to help the least of these, our brothers and sisters, he chooses to pick childish fights with them, calling them names, belittling them, and publicly devaluing them.

How did we fall so far? How did it come to this?

Lord, we pray, send us candidates for whom we can proudly cast a vote. Find them in the wilderness and deliver us from this our painful conundrum.

We desperately need a leader to bring honor and good repute back to the White House, be they a man or woman–be they of whatsoever race–be they from whatsoever cultural background–be they of whatsoever political slant, let someone emerge from the fog to lead us once again with dignity, kindness, and grace.

Amen

Previous Post

October 4, 2017

Gun control and conservative Christianity

Next Post

October 12, 2017 Pleading the Twenty-Fifth

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 150 word story 2nd Amendment AARP abortion addiction aging alcoholism Anderson Wigwam Andrew Jackson Appalachia Basketball bias bigotry Black Lives Matter Christianity Christmas, Constitution, Bill of Rights Civil War Clinton cloning confirmation bias Conservation Constitution Controversial Creationism Creepy tales David Bowie depression Dogs Education Election Electoral College Empathy Environmental Evolution exvangelical faith Family Family History Fantasy Genealogy Genesis George Washington Ghetto Global Warming Gun Control health care High School Basketball Hillary History Hockey homosexuality Hoosier Hysteria Hoosiers Hunting immigration income inequality Interview ISTEP Jurassic Park Kaepernick Ken Hamm Kids say the Darndest things LGBTQ Love MAGA Manifest Destiny Merit Pay Mike Pence Muhammad Ali Multiple Perspectives Music Music Review Nashville News media NHL No Child Left Behind NRA Paradox Parenting Pence Perspective Politics POTUS Poverty Predators Race Religion religious freedom Sci Fi Science Secret of Life sexual harrassment Short Stories Slavery Small Town Indiana Smashville Social Commentary social media sports Stress technology Terrorism Thomas Jefferson Trauma Trump Turning 50 Uncategorized war Washington DC White Privilege wooly mammoths words in red Writing Writing Process Writing, Writing Process Young Earth

Select a Month June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the Hebrew word 'Shekinah' mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God’s Glory Everlasting Light Divine Presence Holy Fire

Support this
Column