A PRAYER FOR PUBLIC OFFICERS
by Walter Rauschenbush, and read by Thomas Poole
“O God, Thou great governor of all the world, we pray thee for all who hold public office and power, for the life, the welfare, and the virtue of the people are in their hands to make or to mar. We remember with shame that in the past the mighty have preyed on the labors of the poor; that they have laid nations in the dust by their oppression, and have thwarted the love and prayers of thy servants. We bless thee that the new spirit of democracy has touched even the kings of the earth. We rejoice that by the free institutions of our country the tyrannous instincts of the strong may be curbed and turned to the patient service of the commonwealth.
“Strengthen the sense of duty in our political life. Grant that the servants of the state may feel ever more deeply that any diversion of their public powers for private ends is a betrayal of their country. Purge our cities and states and nation of the deep causes of corruption which have so often made sin profitable and uprightness hard. Bring to an end the stale days of party cunning. Breathe a new spirit into our nation. Lift us from the dust and mire of the past that we may gird ourselves for a new day’s work. Give our leaders a new vision of the possible future of our country and set their hearts on fire with large resolves. Raise up a new generation of public [servants], who will have the faith and daring of the Kingdom of God in their hearts, and who will enlist for life in a holy warfare for the freedom and rights of the people.” —from Prayer of the Social Awakening, by Walter Rauschenbusch, c. 1910
Please watch the video below to access a reading of this prayer by its contributor, Tom Poole, of Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Dr. Poole, a musicologist and theologian by training, is a church musician by profession. He takes seriously the study of culture, music and the arts for expressions of the presence of the Divine.
Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918) was a clergyman and theology professor in the United States. As an ordained Baptist minister in New York City, his eyes were opened, and he agonized over the myriad of social problems and suffering he encountered in a poverty-stricken neighborhood. He was one to speak out and take action, eventually becoming acknowledged as the leader of the Social Gospel movement in the United States.
(https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Rauschenbusch, accessed 9/25/2020)
