Prayer for the House of Representatives

I had the honor of offering the opening prayer for the Minnesota House of Representatives at their session on Monday afternoon.  I have done this several times in the past (also for the State Senate) and think of it as my yearly civics lesson.  This time, I took my inspiration from the prayer that Bishop Eugene Robinson offered at the beginning of the concert at the Lincoln Memorial on the Sunday before the inauguration. 

Gracious God,

We ask your blessing today for the women and men of the Minnesota House of Representatives.

We thank you for the skills and energies they bring to their duties, and for their willingness to set aside other obligations and pleasures in order to serve the people of our state.

We thank you, too, for the colleagues and staff who support them in their work, and for the family and co-workers in their home districts ho make it possible for them to be here.

In this complicated and uneasy time of our history, we pray for paradoxical blessings for these public servants:

· the blessing of outrage that many of our neighbors receive inadequate health care, along with the blessing of civility in working together to find solutions;

· the blessing of impatience that many Minnesotans still have unsafe and inadequate housing, along with the blessing of encouragement for new ideas to provide it;

· the blessing of shame for mediocre schools, outdated highways, and shabby facilities, along with the blessing of resolve to address those needs;

· the blessing of hope in imagining the future of our state, along with the blessing of prudence in building and financing that future;

· and the blessing of loyalty in representing their constituencies, along with the blessing of courage in sometimes challenging their views.

Holy One, as the representatives set to their work today, may the civic virtues of fairness, honesty, cooperation, and order be joined by the spiritual virtues of humility, compassion, reconciliation, and joy.

All these things we pray most earnestly, Amen.