The Invisible Invocation

From Christianity Today, the video of Gene Robinson, who began the inaugural kick-off at Lincoln Memorial, Gay Bishop Kicks off Celebrity-filled Event. Unfortunately, the invocation was missing from the HBO broadcast of the event.

As the Huffington Post reports, Gay Bishop Gene Robinson Left Out Of HBO Concert Coverage:

Sunday's big Lincoln Memorial show was billed as the "We Are One" concert, intended to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama with a spirit of unity. But for those of us watching at home, one participant was excluded -- Gene Robinson, the "first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained a bishop in a major Christian denomination." Robinson was on hand to deliver an opening prayer to the event, but this prayer went unseen by anyone watching on HBO, who provided and sponsored the coverage.

Although originally it appeared that HBO omitted Robinson, as the day wore on, both HBO and the Inaugural Committee have been blaming each other for the omission. I'm not sure we'll ever find out who was really responsible, but I have to wonder: if HBO had nothing to do with keeping Robinson off the show, then why did they neglect to identify the Gay Men's Chorus. Yet, they managed to name all of the other groups. Who could have prevented HBO from figuring out the name of the chorus?

And apparently, HBO is acting like the big bully, preventing any on-line videos of the performances at the Lincoln Memorial, claiming they have exclusive rights to the broadcast. Nice -- a public event celebrating the inauguration of our nation's new president belongs to some cable company? See Very Poor Choice.

In any event, here's the Prayer:

“O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will bless us with tears – tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless this nation with anger – anger at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort at the easy, simplistic answers we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth about ourselves and our world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be fixed anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility, open to understanding that our own needs as a nation must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance, replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences.

Bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable.

And God, we give you thanks for your child, Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, inspire him with President Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for all people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our ship of state needs a steady, calm captain.

Give him stirring words; We will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking far too much of this one. We implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand, that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity, and peace. Amen."

Finally, Gene Robinson spoke about his invocation at NPR.

This is for my peeps, the LLWL Gang.

(A final note. HBO says that the prayer will be included in future showings of the event).