Dear Friends in Christ -
So now President-elect Obama has done it. He's not even President yet, and he's upset almost everyone. Folks on the religious Left were upset when he invited the Rev. Rick Warren to offer a prayer at his Inauguration. Folks on the religious Right are now upset because he's invited the Right Rev. Gene Robinson to pray at Inaugural festivities on Sunday.
I have to say, I was surprised about his choice of Warren. From what I understand through reading about the faith of Obama and Warren, there are many issues on which they disagree. Yet Obama still reached out and asked him to pray - for him and for our country. Apparently, Obama thinks "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16), whether or not they agree on everything. Hmmm.
And then I read in yesterday's NYTimes that the Right Rev. Gene Robinson has been asked to pray at an Inaugural event, too. I smiled when I read Robinson's response to a reporter's question about why/how he was invited to pray. Robinson said, "In many ways, it just proves that Barack Obama is exactly who he says he was and would be as president, which is someone who is casting a wide net that will include all Americans."
I have to confess, my smile at Robinson's remarks was sort of a sheepish smile, because Obama's efforts to include all Americans make me uneasy. If I'm honest, I have to confess that there are some people I don't want gathered up in the net with me. Oh, make no mistake, I want the net to always be wide enough to include me. I just don't want to have to put up with people who are "wrong" about issues that I think are important, people I see as standing in the way of truth or progress or unity.
Sigh. When will I learn? God has spent my whole life trying to deliver me of by blindness and bigotry, trying to pry my fingers off those things I hang on to so tightly for security and teach me to find my security in Him.
I'm going to make it a point to pray with all the folks who pray at the Inauguration, whether or not I agree with them on issues political and/or spiritual. Maybe my heart will learn something new . . .
Faithfully yours,
Janet+
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