God Shed His Grace on Thee

May 5 is officially the National Day of Prayer - a day to pray for our nation and for it's leaders.

History. Our nation has a long and distinguished history of prayer. From Washington's legendary prayer at Valley Forge to Lincoln's constant seeking of the Divine through the Civil War, our leaders have sought guidance and direction through prayer. In fact it was Abraham Lincoln who proclaimed the first national day of fasting on March 30, 1863.

For some reason fasting didn't catch on and it wasn't until 1952 that we would have a national day of prayer of the President's choosing. This was of course during the height of Soviet power and the threat of Communism. It was President Reagan in 1988 who made permanent a National Day of Prayer in May. As he stated, "On our National Day of Prayer, then, we join together as people of many faiths to petition God to show us His mercy and His love, to heal our weariness and uphold our hope, that we might live ever mindful of His justice and thankful for His blessing."

Heritage. This year's theme is 'God shed His Grace on Thee'. These words come from one of the most beloved poems set to music in our history and express the rich heritage of our nation. America the Beautiful was written in 1893 by Katherine Lee Bates as she gazed out across the vast beauty of America from the top of Pike's Peak Colorado. When I was about nine my family went to Denver and took a memorable trip up Pike's Peak. It was in the 80's and clear when we left but many slow hairpin turns later we found ourselves in a terrible blizzard. It took a great deal of painfully quiet self-control to make our way back down the mountain. We are all familiar with the first stanza of America the Beautiful with the purple waves of grain but many of us don't remember the second stanza that was more my experience with Pike's Peak: "America! America!God mend thine every flaw,Confirm thy soul in self-control,Thy liberty in law!"

Hardship. I love America, but we do have flaws. As individuals we frequently lack self-control and lose our way in a blizzard of greed and selfishness. Our liberty in law has been made a license to promote tolerance while at the same time expressing intolerance toward religion. Sadly it was just a couple of years ago that the Village of Oak Park had to battle through the federal court system twice to win the right to have a generic day of prayer. The invocation of a Divine on public property was too extreme to be allowed. We see in the press the extreme fringes of religious zealouts who are touted as being representative of all religion and religion has begun to be marginalized and pushed to the side of the open marketplace of ideas.

Hope. While it saddens me to see our courts slowly twist "Thy liberty in law" and to see our congressman filibuster conservative court appointments to the bench, I draw my hope from a firmness in the right, as a Sovereign God gives us to see the right. I draw encouragement from the American People who time and time again will rally to care for the widow and orphan. Administer Justice exists for this purpose and we have a great privilege to serve with over 150 volunteers who are making a difference in lives of individuals in need. Our concept of liberty is not a license to do what we please, but of a Lady standing with an arm holding a light for all to see proclaiming: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free." And so our prayer is joined with the prayer of a great man of faith whose library was dedicated this past week. It was Abraham Lincoln in his famous second inaugral address who exclaimed:

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."