This afternoon has been a challenging and unfortunate day for our country. What should have been a routine step in our electoral process, has turned into a scene best reserved for books and movies. Now, I don’t know what side of the aisle you may lean. I don’t know how you may have voted. I can’t say if you feel this election was rigged or full of fraud. Frankly, none of that matters, especially at times such as these. What does matter, should cause alarm, and even weigh heavy on our heart is that the events we are witnessing today, do not represent the America that you and I were born into. Nor does it represent the country in which we are proud to call home. It certainly doesn’t represent our values as baptized children of God called to mutually respect, support, and love one another. 

I would ask that as news continues to be broadcast and the darker hours of this night continue on that you spend some time in prayer and reflection for our country. Pray for our elected leaders who have found their lives threatened by violence. Pray for the electoral process which has defined our freedoms for over two hundred years. Pray that peace and freedom would continue to remain as pillars which have defined this country since its founding.

I pray that if you find yourself aligning with those who have stormed the capital, that you might find peace in the process which has guided our country. I ask plainly that you take a moment to step back, open your eyes to the peace of the Christ Child, and to echo that peace in your daily lives. 

Most importantly, I pray that we might all remember that today is the Celebration of Epiphany. Today the church recalls the Magi who were guided by the star to bow down in humble adoration in the presence of the Christ Child. May we all be bold enough to remember the brightness of that star, recalling that God’s light is bright enough to illumine the dark shadow of this day.  May that light shine upon us, so much so, that we might all be proud to call ourselves Americans, mutually care and respect one another despite political differences, and that we might beam with the love and light that Christ has placed within us. 

God’s blessings,
Pastor Bailey

Let us pray . . .
God of tempest, God of whirlwind, we come to you on this tempest tossed day
as our own electoral process has been threatened and our nation’s capital building
has been taken seize. Pour out your sheltering wings upon all those in harm’s way,
especially our elected leaders, and those who are asked to provide protection for them. 
Bring peace to the protesters. Help us all to realize that we are stronger united
than we ever are divided. Be with us in these darker days. 
Shine your light upon us. Illumine your world with the brightness of your love and light. 
Reassure us once again of your great love, and may we be vessels of your eternal peace
and compassion. All this we pray, in the holy and precious name of Jesus, the Christ. 
Amen.