A Prayer for Leadership

Dear People of Christ Church,
This week, I’d like to share with you a prayer for leadership written by Sister Joan Chittister. She’s a Roman Catholic Benedictine nun—I’ve been on retreat several times at her convent, which is a few miles from where I grew up in Erie, PA. Please keep all the candidates for office in your prayers over the next week, and pray that all goes smoothly—and fairly—on Election Day next Tuesday. Georgie Hallock of the League of Women Voters reminds us that the polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm here in Massachusetts. If you need a ride to the polls (or would be willing to give someone a ride), please let me know. Also, remember that there are also three ballot questions to decide. A (non partisan) voter guide on the ballot questions is at www.voteinfo.info.

Prayer for Leadership (On Election Day and Other Times)
Joan D. Chittister, OSB

Give us, O God,
Leaders whose hearts are large enough
To match the breadth of our own souls
And give us souls strong enough
To follow leaders of vision and wisdom.

In seeking a leader, let us seek
More than development for ourselves —
Though development we hope for —
More than security for our own land —
Though security we need —
More than satisfaction for our wants —
Though many things we desire.

Give us the hearts to choose the leader
Who will work with other leaders
To bring safety
To the whole world.

Give us leaders
Who lead this nation to virtue
Without seeking to impose our kind of virtue
On the virtue of others.

Give us a government
That provides for the advancement of this country
Without taking resources from others to achieve it.

Give us insight enough ourselves
To choose as leaders those who can tell
Strength from power,
Growth from greed,
Leadership from dominance,
And real greatness from the trappings of grandiosity.

We trust you, Great God,
To open our hearts to learn from those
To whom you speak in different tongues
And to respect the life and words
Of those to whom you entrusted
The good of other parts of this globe.

We beg you, Great God,
Give us the vision as a people
To know where global leadership truly lies,
To pursue it diligently,
To require it to protect human rights
For everyone everywhere.

We ask these things, Great God,
With minds open to your word
And hearts that trust in your eternal care.
Amen.