Invocation for the CO State House. February 27, 2014

Invocation for the Colorado State House of Representatives

February 27, 2014

Rabbi Joseph R. Black – Temple Emanuel, Denver, CO

God – you dwell on High.  You lie down with those in the street.

God – your voice rolls down like thunder.  We find You in the silent questions that plague us in the middle of the night.

God – You set a standard for our behavior.  You are filled with mercy and compassion for our frailties.

God - on this day of deliberation – help these legislators find You – not in the absolute or categorical imperatives that draw lines in the ideological sands of partisanship; but rather let them see you in their doubts, in their questions, in their struggles to fulfill the needs of our community.  Help them to find the words and the stories to stir each other’s  souls.  Open their hearts to the possible and the improbable.  Help them to find the human and the divine in their colleagues, their constituents and in themselves.

In times of instability, help us to stay balanced.

In times of Torpor, help us to feel uneasy.

Push us to find humor and banish hubris in the daily interactions of our lives.

Give us - all of us - this day:  a moment of tranquility and transcendence, so that we might rise above our ordinariness and glimpse the glory of Your greatness.

Let us see it in ourselves.  Let us see it in these deliberations.  Let us see it in one another.

Then, and only then, will we merit the gifts You have bestowed upon us.

AMEN