Our God and the God of all people:
God of the rich, and God of the poor;
God of the strong and God of the weak;
God of the faithful and God of those who have no God.
We come here today – from many different faith
traditions – to celebrate the beauty of diversity and the freedom to proclaim,
celebrate and practice our faith traditions without fear.
Our nation was built on a foundation of both tolerance
and hope. The immigrants and refugees
who, in the past came to this country – and those who strive to follow in their
footsteps today – all too often were driven to our shores out of desperation
and with a vision of hope for a better world.
We also know that others were brought here in
captivity in order to sustain a system of profit-making built on the backs of
slave labor.
Our past is checkered.
There have been times when our doors were closed to
outsiders.
There have been times when the ugliness of bigotry and
prejudice threatened the very values upon which our constitution was framed.
In times of darkness and in times of hope, our
nation’s strength has always been found in the twin premises of diversity and
openness.
Let our prayers and supplications ascend – not only to
the heavens, but also to all who challenge the freedoms that are the bedrock of
our civilization:
·
The
freedom to worship in safety;
·
The
freedom to pass on our values to the next generation;
·
The
freedom to serve those less fortunate than ourselves;
·
The
freedom to proudly proclaim our allegiance to both our God and our Country
without fear
As we gather today to celebrate religious freedom, let
us also remember just how fragile and precious our freedoms truly are. We call
you by many names. We pray in different
voices – but we are linked together in a chain of faith.
May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our
hearts, be acceptable in Your sight, our Rock and our Redeemer.
AMEN
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