Invocation

Let us call forth the divine presence in what ever form one embraces, the higher power of all creation that instills wisdom and knowledge, patience and compassion, a calm presence that listens and learns, and the agitating presence that brings forth justice for all people. In the Christian tradition this presence is the Holy Spirit and she is the breath, the wind, and the fire of God, moving in and through all human life, all creation.

Holy One, come forth this night and descend upon us, and especially upon Abdullah as he prepares to take on the responsibility of serving these people as our elected representative to the State legislature. 

Fill him with the grace to listen carefully. Help him to recognize when he has been wrong and to have the maturity to make amends. Inspire him to take action, working for justice for all people. Guide him with compassion and the ability to respect the dignity of every human being. Give him with the courage and fortitude to continue bending the arc of hope. 

May he work as our State Representative to ensure that all people have a warm home, earn a living wage, know the security of having plenty of food; affordable, safe health care; quality affordable education; and clean water and air. Help him to build bridges across the chasm of divisiveness that seeks to break us apart. 

Guide and strengthen us, the citizens of this state, to work with him to be one people, united by a common concern for the wellbeing of all people. Give us the capacity for effective communication, that with integrity we can share our hopes, expectations, and disappointments, encouraging Abdullah in his work for us. 

We pray also for our state and federal government and  all of our elected officials that they will have a renewed sense of justice and goodness: 

seeking to lift up the most vulnerable; sustain and secure those of us who live in a fragile and tenuous middle between poverty and wealth. Open the hearts and minds of those who have much and with new compassion guide them to share, maximizing our resources.

Lastly, bless this Dearborn community that we can be light to the nation and a beacon of hope through our diversity. May our differences in culture, religion, ethnicity, and gender be the foundation that enriches our lives, enabling us to be mature and wise, a people united by what each one of us brings to the common cause of human life. May we each do our part for the good of all. And, may we do all this with the help of the one God, creator, sustainer, and redeemer of all. Amen.