I wish everyone a blessed 4th of July weekend. It is a time to enjoy good company, be with family and friends, get outside, and give thanks for the heritage of freedom that we enjoy. I invite you to wear RED, WHITE and BLUE to Church on Sunday.
Carry with you this weekend the following prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr. I have changed the language to make it inclusive.
Look with mercy upon the peoples of the Lord, so full of pride and confusion, so sure of their righteousness and so deeply involved in unrighteousness, so confident of their power and so imprisoned by their fears of each other. Have mercy upon our own nation, called to such high responsibilities in the affairs of humankind. Purge us of the vainglory which confuses our counsels, and give our leaders and our people wisdom of humility and charity. Help us to recognize our own affinity with whatever truculence or malice confronting us that we may not add to the world’s woes by the fury of our own resentments. Give your Church the grace in this time to be as a saving remnant among the nations, reminding all peoples of the divine majesty under whose judgment they stand, and of the divine mercy of which they and we have a common need.
Peace,
David