Father,
These are trying times. I am looking through the window of a bus, at a policeman holding a gun outward through an open window. Many things could go wrong with this scene. He may have forgotten to put the safety on; he may playfully finger the trigger of his gun while the squad car goes over a bump. A shot could be fired, an innocent killed. This is the state of our nation. There are many acts heading toward full combustion. For years and years we seem finely perched on the edge. Yet we desire to live away from the brink of disaster. We want to live in the safety of a country that works.
Many say and believe that we are an unwieldy contraption, a mistake of man. We believe that we are born of divine inspiration, a city of God. So, before we embark on one of those doomed exercises of the flesh, before we enthrone ourselves as better than other men, before we become full of disastrous self-right because we know a little of the truth without knowing how to use it-we come to you.
We ask that you enlighten us. That you teach us how to pray, and from that, relying on you, become worthy ambassadors of your will. It is your will that is good for all; it is your will that separates the darkness from the light.
We have no illusions about the task ahead but we know that we cannot afford to lose the tiny battles of the earth and lose the war over our own souls. The end, to you, could never justify the means. The means are smaller parts of the end that come together, finally, in the end. Only what is sown can be reaped, help us to sow the right seed.
In essence, lord, we are asking for forgiveness. A realignment of the past with present/eternal truth and future glory. Make us a people of a prayer before you make us a nation of action. Help us to dwell forever in the light.
Amen.