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Tomorrow is Election Day 2024. I know most of us in Hawaiʻi have already voted by mail. It is a day for reflection and prayer.
I was born and raised in Central Illinois. I grew up in the “Land of Lincoln” visiting the Lincoln Home, Lincolnʻs tomb and the Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site. Abraham Lincoln was a man of his age. He had limitations and failures. I have also found him to be an example of leadership in difficult times, and an examplar of a person who could learn and change. His faith in the equality of people grounded in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution challenged him to the day he was assasinated. His understanding of the Divine matured in the crucible of war.
As we enter a time of national challenge and division, I found the following reminders of another time of crisis during a presidential election inspiring:
Whatever the outcome of this election, churches throughout this Diocese will pray for the President-elect. I will pray for the new President myself every day. We must also live into our baptismal promises to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself” and to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”
Please pray for peace, justice, and forbearance today, tomorrow, and in the days ahead:
Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges: Guide the people of the United States in the election of officials and representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayers abound!
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