National Day of Prayer

Today is the 60th annual National Day of Prayer, traditionally held on the first Thursday in May.

It almost didn't happen this year. An eleventh-hour ruling by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found only last month that this observance is indeed constitutional, allowing President Barack Obama, whose administration defended the day in court, to issue the traditional annual proclamation calling for a national day of prayer.

May the National Day of Prayer bring Americans a renewed sense of purpose and confidence, not only in our leaders, but in our promise as a nation. May it bring us the courage to judge each other with mercy and fairness, both at home and abroad. And may it bring us comfort from the tragedies of natural disaster and economic devastation. We also hope that the very act of the National Day of Prayer might bring the nation blessings as well. A moment in which people join together as a nation, setting aside disagreements and differences in order to come together to pray for the best interests of our nation, is sorely needed

We hope it will bring the nation perspective, peace and, as President Abraham Lincoln hoped, the ability to move forward with "malice toward none, with charity toward all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right." The reminder that all depend upon the mercy of one another, as well as on the mercy of God, is a welcome one.

In Christian and Jewish traditions, the Sabbath is observed as a periodic rest from labor, an opportunity to reflect and refocus. The National Day of Prayer offers a similar opportunity to pause from our labors and consider again who we are, what we believe, and who we want to be

Please stop for a moment, look upward, and pray.