Rev. Robinson's Prayer

Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson delivered a beautiful prayer before yesterday's Inaugural Celebration Concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Bishop Robinson is openly gay, causing the bigots in his church to begin the process of secession from the world Episcopal church in order to build a counter-church built around the hatred of gays. Anyway, it's a beautiful prayer, unfortunately not broadcast as part of the Cable TV version of the event:

"Bless us with tears...
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...
Bless us with humility...
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...."

It's worth going and reading the whole thing. I didn't watch the entire concert; I caught three numbers: John Mellencamp doing "Aint that America" which was beautiful if it made me feel as old as Mellencamp looks; Herbie Hancock, Sheryl Crow and Will I. Am doing Bob Marley's "One Love"; and Josh Groban, Heather Headley and the Gay Men's Chorus doing some patriotic song that made me weep uncontrollably. Ah emotion.

Don't fuck this up, Barack.