Offered in worship at University Temple Methodist Church in Seattle on Palm Sunday, 2013
God of a love overwhelmingly awesome we reach out to Thee this day in the hope that a righteous shaking might come to our own beloved nation. As we offer our taxes may a renewed understanding arise that these monies are to be used for commonwealth so that all might have a roof over their head, food in their belly, health care for their bodies, safe streets for their security, just regulations for markets and commerce, and a peaceful transformation where swords are downsized so that that which builds health and hope are fully funded.[PL1] Remember our idealism o God, remember the sacred covenant we once made with you --- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all are created equal, that all are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among the people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." --- Remember o God the idealism of our birth and raise up for us new leaders who embody those dreams and hopes, and restore our people, o God --- give us a future and the will to embody Your reign of Shalom. We pray in the Spirit of Jesus --- Amen.
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Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California
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