TERRA MUSEUM DEDICATION
APRIL 21, 1987
INVOCATION
BY

JOHN M. BUCHANAN
PASTOR

FOURTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CHICAGO

O God, your art is the whole creation. All the colors and shapes and
sounds in the world are your creation and we dare to believe that you have
arranged, orchestrated, sculpted, choregraphed and painted - for our enjoyment,
We dare to believe that your image in us is best reflected in the making of art
and the appreciating and loving of art.

You are the source of goodness and truth and beauty, O God, and so
we invoke your presence in our midst this day and your blessing on this new
institution.

We thank you for the impulse toward beauty that has, from the beginning,
prompted human beings to express themselves and where words were not adequate
to express themselves deeply in color and shapes.

We thank you for the gift of creativity which you give which reminds us
of our exalted place in the scheme of things. We praise you for the gift of
the artist which enhances and ennobles the humanity of all of us.

We thank you for the legacy of American Art which this museum will
celebrate. We thank you for our nation and the history and the experience
which will be remembered and we thank you for all those who will learn about
our nation here - for those who will here be inspired to express themselves
through art.

We thank you, O God, for the vision and the generosity of its founder and
for the dedication of all those who have made this vision become a reality.

We thank you, O God, for the privilege of being here together and, in
confidence that you are pleased when we devote ourselves to the celebration
of your good gift of life, we invoke your blessing now on these proceedings.

Amen.