So I realize that I'm probably going to poke someone's hot button with this diary, but today is the National Day of Prayer. I understand that some people are going to immediately associate any mention of nationally recognized prayer with fundamentalist evangelicalism, but I'd like to take a minute and encourage all of us Kossacks to think about ways that we can pray today for our country, our leaders, and our world. I would like to say first of all that I want this to be non-sectarian in nature. I am a Christian; I pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus Christ. If you are a Jew, pray with me as a close brother in faith. If you are a Muslim praying to Allah in the name of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), pray with me as an honored member of the Abrahamic tradition. If you are a Hindu praying to Ganesh to bless the endeavors of our country with success, pray with me. If you are a Buddhist praying for enlightenment and truth, pray with me. If you are a Wiccan praying to the Triune Goddess, pray with me. If you are an atheist or agnostic and don't pray, feel free to think about ways that you can act to help bring these things to fruition. In other words, don't walk away because I used the word "prayer." Stay with me and let's try to make this positive.
That being said, I'd like to list a few things that we can all pray about with earnest hearts to try to make some positive change in our world and bring healing to our communities.
1. Pray for our President and the other leaders of our country, even the ones you don't like. Pray that we can learn again to work together for the good of the United States of America. Pray that if there is falsehood or untruth in the political system, or impure motives, that those things be cleansed so that we can begin together from a foundation of truth. Pray that our leaders would have a vision for peace, for common dignity of all peoples, for human rights, and for justice. Pray that we could be a country that faithfully represents our values - democracy, freedom, equality, unity - to the world in a way that shows our humility and our strength, instead of presenting ourselves as a bully or as a holier-than-thou example.
2. Pray for the poor in our country. Pray that they would receive their daily bread; enough each day to nourish and provide for them until the next day. Pray that their lives would be blessed by the hands of caring individuals, be that a social worker, a church lay ministry, or just another person who wants to make a difference. Pray that you and I would have the strength and courage to act for the benefit of the poor, and pray that our government would assign value to the life of the poor. Pray for dignity for the poor, and pray that we could work together as a country to ensure that poverty impacts the lives of fewer and fewer of our citizens each year. Pray for these same blessings for the poor around the world.
3. Pray for the immigrant and the alien in our country. Pray that they be kept safe, that they be allowed to earn their keep as members of our society, and that they be treated with dignity and respect. Pray that those who are here without documentation be allowed a path to citizenship which embraces our legacy as a nation of immigrants. Pray that we can look past stereotypes and the rhetoric of fear to recognize immigrants as people like us, with the same needs and desires as we have - security, liberty, happiness, and a future. Pray for these same blessings for immigrants and aliens around the world.
4. Pray for our environment. Pray that we can all learn to be good and peaceful stewards of our world, preserving it and keeping it healthy for generations to come. Pray that we can whole-heartedly embrace any measure which might assist in that preservation: green fuels, a greater emphasis on recycling and "up-cycling," a reduced reliance on cars for transportation. Pray for the parts of our world already affected by a changing and unpredictable climate. Pray for the polar bears.
5. Pray for our churches, mosques, temples, and other places of worship. Pray that we can unite around the common threads among our various religions - justice, mercy, kindness. Pray that we can end the divisions that separate us, and that we can all worship as our faiths dictate without fear of retribution from those who might disagree. Pray that our worship would be pleasing in the sight of God - or whichever deity or deities we might worship. Pray that those who do not worship any god have their lives enriched in their pursuit of human rights and strong personal morals - goals common to all people.
6. In closing, pray for your friends, family, and any other individual whose name is placed on your heart. You know the needs that I don't, and you can pray best for your own relationships. Pray that the lives of those individuals are blessed, that they receive healing - physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual - if they need it, and that they be a blessing to others around them.
I pray that I have written these prayers in such a way that they are not offensive to any person. I pray that we can take a moment in our busy lives to consider these things in our own ways, and to quiet our hearts and minds in contemplation. I pray that we can all come together as a community to help make these prayers and goals a reality. I pray blessings on anyone who reads this diary today, and that their lives be enriched.
Thank you for reading, and for praying. God bless you.