Here is the transcript for Miller's prayer:
"Father God,
This week, as the world looks on, help the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future.
We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation.
We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy.
Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.
Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.
Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.
Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.
Hep us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education.
Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.
We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.
Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world.
A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American.
Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world.
Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.
Lastly, father, unify us.
Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.
And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.
God we know that you are good.
Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.
I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.
Let Him be our example.
Amen."
Thoughts?
AE
19 comments:
Typical liberal babble.
Chris,
(Which Chris are you?) To be fair, technically, the statements in Miller's prayer are neither theologically nor particularly politically liberal. What are you particularly objecting to? I know many people objected to his use of "injustice", but I think they are falsely assuming that he is rejecting a gospel of "personal salvation" for a Social Gospel. (I'm pretty sure he rejects the choice, as I do). Do you simply object to his presence at the DNC?
AE
I do find myself wonder how heavily vetted this prayer was to fit DNC expectations/requirements/demands/whatever. But it seems a solid enough prayer to me.
At what point have any of us become holy enough to judge another man's prayer to our Lord and Savior? I was shocked at the fact that he made his requests to God through Jesus and I applauds this gentleman for making his faith known to a group in which some probably flinched at the very utterance of the name of Christ. Perhaps if more of us had the courage to stand and pray in the face of those who are attempting to oppress God in this nation then some of what this man prayed for would become more likely in this nation. I saw a guy on Fox News last night who was touting the fact that he turned down the opportunity to pray at the convention. Let me never turn down an opportunity to talk to my Father and to proclaim his name and message to millions.
I am Chris F.
These are the things in the prayer that made me cringe.
Health care--I'm sure he was talking about government controlled health care. Socialism never works.
Corporate gluttony--Corporations are the institutions that provide jobs. If you don't like them, then go start your own company.
Restore our moral standing in the world--We are the most moral country in the world, why should we care what those human rights violator countries think?
A lot of people don't like us...See above. (Also sounds like whining.)
Forgive us and our allies--What for? For liberating half the world in past years and doing so now?
Lastly, we are the most just country in the world. Vast economic opportunity surrounds every single citizen of this bountiful country. Democrats have been playing the class-envy card for decades. They should pray for forgiveness.
Thanks Chris for clearing up your identity for us all. Adding that big F. helps a lot..
First, I want to make clear that I have not made a final decision for the candidate that I will vote for. I'm not making a political push in any direction. I sincerely wish to take the privilege that I've been given serious by researching and listening to what the presidential candidates have to say and then making an informed decision..
However, I will say that I find the first comment here quite ironic because making generalized comments about a group of people who can not really be defined without any substantial information to back that claim up would be my exact definition of babble..
And, I like Adam, would be interested in knowing if Chris is meaning liberal politically or theologically. I will fully admit that I am far from any kind of expert on politics. I am still baffled that according to some, the fact that I try to conserve energy and resources makes me a liberal. Can someone please explain to me how conserving can do anything but make me CONSERVATIVE? Anyway... just to make a point that I have no clue how positions within politics got defined as liberal and conservative. It's all very twisted if you ask me.
But what I do know is the character of my Jesus. Was he a liberal? In the true sense of the word No, absolutely not.. But if this prayer is defined as liberal then I will venture to say then yes, yes he was (is). Because the one thing that I am quite sure that Jesus commissioned us as Christians to do was to fight for the poor, and widows and orphans and the oppressed "the least of these", and to love in humility. I can also point to many places in the Bible that speak of the blessing of unity and peacemakers.
I'm sure that when Donald Miller stepped up there to say that prayer, he knew that he would be ridiculed and hated by those who call themselves his brothers. But bless him for having the courage to take a step toward bringing about unity anyway..
If the things that he prayed for makes him a liberal then sign me up! Because what he was praying for is what I want to be..
Dana,
It's great to conserve energy and resources. It's not about clean water and air and helping animals. Waco environmentalist is a people- hating, private- property hating political movement whose policies threatens to crush lives, property, and freedom. They are the modern home of the Communist party. For example, a few years back, the Fish and Wildlife Service was able to delay for years the construction of the San Bernardion Medical Center because of its POSSIBLE impact on the endangered Delhi Sands fly. The county had to spend $4.5 million to protect eight flies by opening a 10 acre fly preserve.
Then there is the case of the death of 4 brave firefighters who were battling a blaze in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state. The helicopters were prevented from siphoning water from the nearby Chewuch River for over two hours because the river was home to several fish protected under the Endangered Species Act.
I could go on, but you get the idea. Extreme waco environmentalists are liberals whose policies are far too often adopted by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Speaking of energy conservation, have you noticed that liberal Al Gore uses more energy in a month than the average family uses in a year? But then of course he buys "carbon offsets" from himself which only makes his stock in the company go higher. I guess it's a good racket if you can do it. Not long ago at a speaking gig, his limo was waiting for his wife and daughter, all the time runnung to keep the a/c on. That was the time the masses were encouraged to ride their bikes to hear him speak.
So you see, Gore is the leading voice for conservation but he is very liberal.
Chris,
Those are urban legends. Actually 9 other firefighters had to resign because it was found they violated safety regulations that left the 4 men trapped. It was not due to a delay getting water.
"Waco environmentalist[ism] is a people- hating, private- property hating political movement whose policies threatens to crush lives, property, and freedom"
Can you produce one life-crushing people-hating person for us to question and examine the facts behind your assertion?
You are chasing unicorns buddy. They just don't exist. If "liberal" meant what you thought it meant, then nobody would actually be a liberal. Do yourself and your family a favor. Put down the remote, walk away from the TV, stop watching Fox "news", and try not to read the National Enquirer while you're checking out at that grocery store. As hard as it is to believe, Sasquatch and Dick Cheney were not really separated at birth.
Maybe if people on all sides of issues stopped making up propaganda about the other side we could make some progress and move this nation out of stagnation. Can we stop the insanity?
I certainly feel like I've had my brain exercise for today. Thanks for making me think!!! I really mean that :)
- Julie
Mike,
These are not urban legends. Perhaps you should do a little research.
This is from the NESARC (National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition)
In order to win permission of the Fish and Wildlife Service to build the needed medical complex:
1. The city of San Bernardino had to spend $3,310,199 to mitigate for the presence of eight flies.
2. The site of the hospital had to be shifted 250 feet.
3. Eight of the project's 64 acres had to be set aside as a fly preserve, surrounded by a chain link fence dotted with "no trespassing" signs.
4. The city of San Bernardion had to finance a 5 year $480,000 study of the flies.
Concerning the firefighters:
"A water-dripping helicopter and it pilot sat on the ground for at least 4 hours, only 20 minutes away, while the Forest Service pondered whether it should dip water from the Chewuch River, home to some threatned species of fish. By the time they got the helicopter up, the Thirtymile fire was a raging killer."
From "A Plea Bargain Douses the Scandal of the Thirtymile Fire", by Bob Simmons
I'm not an expert or especially knowledgeable in this area but I don't think this was the point of the prayer. It sounds like some are getting way lost in details that aren't really relevant. Is that really what you want to spend your time and energy convincing people of? Hey, but what do I know?
It did get a bit off subject but I was answering questions asked of me.
For what it's worth, Adam, I really appreciated pretty much everything Miller expressed in his prayer. It seems that this is exactly the kind of dialogue that resonates with believers in an increasingly post-Religious-Right evangelical context.
Thanks for the dialogue!
Okay,
I think this dead horse has been beaten. Give us something new and try to use words that I can understand. I don't know how you ended up marrying someone that has to carry around a dictionary to have a conversation with you.
When I start to feel ignorant because my vocabulary doesn't measure up, I will remind myself that I have to pray hard that you will be able to find your way back home to me from Nashville because your sense of direction stinks. ;)
Btw, I guess you can tell that I miss you a lot since I'm having conversations with your blog. Hurry home to me!
gotta love a prayer that is read from a teleprompter.
1. I loved it. I think that this is what being like Jesus is all about. Teleprompter or no teleprompter, the words ring true. Props to him for having the courage enough to speak those words in a crowd that was surely full of people that didn't agree.
2. Thanks Adam for (once again) making my brain think...
3. I love this: Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions. -- Way too often I am guilty of this.
I think it is wonderful.
Beautiful prayer.
Thank you brother for sharing it with us.
God bless and have a great week!
Adam, Thanks for posting this. I love Donald Miller's books and thought the prayer was beautiful and very appropriate. I am filled with joy to see God acknowledged and Christ held up as our example any where, any time, and any place. Jesus loves and accepts us all. If only we would follow His example. - Mom
Dana - I love you too!!!!
-Lynn
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