Dear Family & Friends of Christ Church, 

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As we prepare to celebrate our country’s semiquincentennial, I offer a prayer originally written for the 1892 edition of our prayer book:

 

Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will.

 

Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues.

 

Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth.

 

In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 

The prayer’s authorship has been misattributed over the years to Thomas Jefferson, a nod to the beauty of the language. The actual author was The Rev. George Lyman Locke (1835-1919). Locke served as Rector of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Bristol, Rhode Island, for 52 years. That means that he was helping lead an Episcopal parish when our country was celebrating its centennial.

 

After one hundred years of struggle and experimentation, including the horror of civil war, he and his congregation gathered and offered their praise and thanks to God for the gift of this country and the privilege of citizenship.

 

I find myself pausing at the petition which asks that God might “fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues”. While the use of words like “hither” and “kindreds” may hint at the prayer’s age, I submit that the sentiments expressed are relevant to our current context.