Our Divine Dance: Opening Prayer for the CO House of Representatives

A few years ago, I learned a powerful lesson from a friend of mine - the Reverend Jim  Ryan – Director Emeritus of the Colorado Council of Churches. He taught me about a new way to look at the prophet Micah who writes in Chapter 6, verse 8:

It has been shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what the Eternal GOD requires of you:
Only to act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Powerful words – but what do they really mean?

Acting justly and loving mercy seem to make sense… but walking humbly?  With God? 

Why does the text state:  “Walk humbly with your God?”   Why doesn’t God walk with us?
The answer is simple – yet profound.  The prophet is teaching that if God walks with us – then it might seem that we are leading the way.

If we walk with God, however, then we have no choice but to travel on the path that God has set before us……  We are not in control.  Our humility opens us up to both vulnerability and the potential for change. We don’t know the twists and turns that we might take – or the remarkable souls that we might encounter along the way.

It’s as though we are partners in a Divine dance - propelled forward by the rhythm of an unseen orchestra:  God leads and we follow - with each subtle touch, or push, or weight shift we are propelled in a different direction - whirling and spinning for the sheer joy of the music and the mystery of the next cadence.

Dear God,

On this day of deliberation, as we look ahead to the tasks that await these legislators and, indeed, every soul in this chamber, we pray that we might all consider the direction of our Divine dance.

Help us to walk with You – to dance with You.  Teach us to find new paths that might bring us to a greater understanding of Your purpose.

In our journey together, may we find solace, inspiration and a renewed commitment to forge partnerships that transcend politics and party.

May each step propel us to act with justice, to love mercy, and find humility in the awareness of the responsibility we all share to better ourselves and our great State of Colorado.

Let us all journey together – in humility and in Love.

AMEN

 

 

Opening Prayer for the CO State House at the Halfway Point of the Session: "The Urgency of the Halfway."

Our God who calls us to reflect on who we are and why we are here:

This morning, we come together in this sacred place as we near the half-way point of our legislative session.  We marvel at the passage of time while simultaneously feeling the anxiety of the layers of unfinished business that loom in front of us.  In a world that all too often demands unyielding perfection from its leaders, there is little, if any, margin for error.  Words of condemnation come easy in political parlance.  But as hard as we are on our colleagues, we are even more merciless on ourselves.  Those who have been chosen to serve feel the burden of answering the clarion call of the people:  to make a difference; to change the unchangeable; to fix the flaws in our laws, fate of our state and the holes in our souls.  And yet, the realities of time and space force us to acknowledge that we cannot complete every task.

 

And so we pray:

 

Dear God, You created us with imperfections.  Watch over all who serve in this chamber:  the legislators and the lawyers, the captains and clerks; the interns and the innovators.  Give them both the strength to pursue the task of governance, and the patience to accept that there is always more to accomplish than is humanly possible.  Protect the souls of your servants who are exposed to the harshness to human expectation.  Help them to support one another –even in the heat of debate and disagreement.  Let any conflict that arises be for the sake of the greater good and teach us to quickly forgive and forget the sting of slogans and slights that are thrown about in the messy process of crafting legislation.   As the end of this session looms ever larger in the forefront of our consciousness, may every person here become reconciled to the sacred necessity for compromise and communion.

 

We thank You for the ability to make a difference.  We see You in the passion of our colleagues.  We seek Your presence in our daily lives.  AMEN