A Prayer for Elections and Democracy

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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We in the US are a blessed people.

We are not the only blessed people.

There are many blessed peoples.

There are many chosen peoples.

We in the US are blessed with democratic institutions and procedures.

We are entrusted with free and fair elections;

we are assured opportunities to

exercise choice,

make public decisions, and 

choose who will lead and govern us.

Now we see elections that test law-abiding common sense  

that respects the rights of citizens,

that refuses the perverse influence of big money,

that makes possible a level playing field for all parties.

In the wake of this moment in our shared democratic experiment,

we may hope and expect positive response from all of our people,

with affirmation for poor people alongside rich folk,

with glad acknowledgement of men and women and free gender delineations,

with full participation by the vulnerable and a refusal of their dismissal or disposal.

We thank you for the gift of freedom,

that is free only in the practice of justice,

that is liberating only in the sharing of common resources,

that is emancipatory only when the least have power and access along with the greatest.

We do not doubt that your good purpose for us pertains

to our public life,

to our common good, and

to our shared futures.

We are glad and grateful to receive our future from your generous hand.

We pledge to live out your blessing in neighborly ways,

refusing greed,

rejecting selfish injustice,

welcoming justice-cum-generosity.

Give us readiness to share our rich blessings,

through distributive taxation and so to advance

a just society,

an open-handed economy,

a polity of respect and inclusion.

We exult in your blessedness that we embrace with gratitude. Amen.

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