Newsletter July 2010

The concluding verse of Katherine Lee Bates hymn “America the Beautiful” ends with this prayer:

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

The sentiments of this verse are in keeping with the tradition of founding fathers, who often invoked the blessing of God upon this country and the noble experiment of a free and democratic people with a republican form of government. The Declaration of Independence says that this country began with a “firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.” As we come to the 234th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2010 it would be good for all of us to ask for the protection of God and the wisdom of God to be granted to our nation. In this age of terrorism and economic turmoil and ecological disaster, we need to be in prayer for our nation more than ever. We face so many challenges. We need wisdom from above.

This is in keeping with Christian teaching. In 1st Timothy 2:1 St. Paul writes: “First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all men, for kings and all who are high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” In 1776 we rejected the king and ablished the idea of a hereditary monarchy in favor of elected leaders who serve a fixed term of office. But the principle is the same. Pray for all those in high positions in federal, state, and local governement. Besides the picnics and barbecues and outings at the lake that are a staple of Independence Day celebrations, prayer would be quite fitting.

The second plea in the conclusion to Bates’s hymn is for brotherhood. When America has reached the size that it is, with 300 million people and more, it might be hard to think about brotherhood. But brotherhood is simply the understanding that we are all in this together, all of us who live on the southern half of this continent, and that we are all bound together by our common citizenship. Therefore we ought to repect one another even as we vigorously and openly debate the issues of the day. Sadly, this idea seems to be weakening among the politicians of our day. The response to the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is just one example of too many politicans lashing out at one another and casting blame on one another when they should be working together to find solutions to the problem. The politicization of almost every issue and the polarization of so many people does not serve the best interests of the nation.

Psalm 133 says, “How very good and pleasant it is when brethern live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes….for there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore.”

By “living together in unity” the psalm does not mean living in uniformity so everyone is of the same opinion on all major issues or that people vote overwhelmingly in favor of one candidate over another. It means to debate the issues freely and vigorously with respect for those who have differing views and especially with respect for those who hold those “high positions” in government to which St. Paul referred in his first letter to Timothy. There can be an essential unity while there is a diversity of opinion on the issues of the day. Over the last two centuries, this has been a foundation of our political discourse and our national life.

And so my prayer for the 4th of July 2010 is that God will shed his grace on the United States of America and crown its good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea