My friend e.d. sent me this, i think some of you might really appreciate it. Happy Obama day!

This prayer was given yesterday, Martin Luther King Day, by V. Gene Robinson from New Hampshire (the first openly gay Episcopal bishop).

Calling up the "God of our many understandings," Robinson said "we pray that
you will:

"Bless us with tears -- for a world in which over a billion people exist on
less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and
raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition,
malaria, and AIDS.

"Bless us with anger -- at discrimination, at home and abroad, against
refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender people.

"Bless us with discomfort -- at the easy, simplistic 'answers' we've
preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about
ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to
the challenges of the future.

"Bless us with patience -- and the knowledge that none of what ails us will
be 'fixed' anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a
human being, not a messiah.

"Bless us with humility -- open to understanding that our own needs must
always be balanced with those of the world.

"Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance -- replacing it with a genuine
respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in
our diversity, we are stronger.

"Bless us with compassion and generosity -- remembering that every
religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the
human community, whether across town or across the world.

"And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office
of President of the United States.

"Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln's
reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best
efforts, and Dr. King's dream of a nation for all the people.

"Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain
in these times.

"Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to
make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges
ahead.

"Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his
leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United
States.

"Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that
experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of
those who are still its victims.

"Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him
remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at
his daughters' childhoods.

"And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents,
and we're asking far too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife
are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep
him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand -- that he might do the work we
have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling,
and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity,
prosperity and peace. Amen."