Faith and Politics Institute Breakfast
Invocation
September 2, 2009
Chicago, IL

Good and gracious God, you have created all of us — different races and nations, with different customs and languages, all of us in your image. And you have created deep within us a sense of justice and compassion and responsibility for one another.

We thank you for that, O God. We thank you for raising up men and women down through history to remind us, because we are created in your image, that when one of us falls behind, we are all demeaned: we thank you for Isaiah and Amos and Hosea who keep reminding us that when the poor and vulnerable, the little ones, the marginalized are not cared for, your image is defaced. We thank you for Martin Luther King and Desmund Tutu and Nelson Mandela who remind us that when men and women and children are left out because of the color of their skin, that God-given unity of the human family is broken.

We thank you for courageous and committed men and women today who remind us to work for a nation and a world more just, more compassionate, more peaceful.

We are grateful for public servants who work in Congress, legislatures, city councils and government agencies — where our most precious values are expressed.

We are grateful for all who serve and offer themselves in the electoral process: for our President and his advisors. Bless all with your gifts of wisdom, patience and fairness.

And, creator God, we thank you for our nation, for those who founded it in freedom; for all who have defended it in the past, and for the men and women of our armed forces who serve it with devotion and courage today.

We are grateful for this occasion, for the food we are about to eat. Grace our gathering with your lively and loving presence: in your holy name we pray.

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