A Prayer for the Inauguration

A Prayer for the United States
on the day of the Inauguration of Joe Biden.
Wednesday, January 20, 2021

[Adapted from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s radio address at the end of the 1940 Presidential Campaign on Election Day]

Wherever we are today, in every community in our nation, and the world, friends and neighbors gather however we can.

We voted as free people, impelled only by the urgings of our own wisdom and our own conscience.

In our polling places there were no storm troopers or secret police to look over our shoulders as we marked our ballots.

In every political campaign the question on which we finally pass judgment is simply this: “Who do I think is the candidate best qualified to act as President, or Governor, or Senator, or Mayor, or Supervisor, or County Commissioner during the next term?”

It is that right, the right to determine for themselves who should be their own officers of government that provides for the people the most powerful safeguard of our democracy.

Dictators have forgotten - or perhaps they never knew - that the opinion of all the people, freely formed and freely expressed, without fear or coercion, is wiser than the opinion of any person or any small group of people.

We have more faith in the collective opinion of all Americans than in the individual opinion of any one American.

Every one of us has a continuing responsibility for the Government which we choose.

Democracy is not just a word to be shouted at political rallies and then put back into the dictionary after election day.

The service of democracy must be something much more than lip-service.

It is a living thing - a human thing - compounded of brains and muscle and heart and soul. The service of democracy is the birthright of every citizen, of every background, ethnicity, and heritage, of every religion, the children of every country in the world, who make up the people of the land.

Freedom of speech is of no use to the person who has nothing to say and, freedom of worship is of no use to the person who has lost their God. A free election is of no use to the person who is too indifferent to vote.

On Election Day we decided for ourselves how the legislative and executive branches of our country are run and by whom.

After the ballots were counted, the real rulers of this country had their way.

After the ballots were counted, the United States of America still stands united.

We people of America know that a person cannot live by bread alone.

We know that we have a reservoir of religious and civic strength which can withstand attacks from abroad and corruption from within.

On this Inauguration Day, we all have in our hearts and minds a prayer for the dignity , the integrity, and the peace of our beloved country.

Therefore I believe that you will find it fitting that I read to you an old prayer which asks the guidance of God for our nation:

Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage; We beseech You that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Your favor and glad to do Your 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 through the ages out of many kindreds and tongues. Imbue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom, in Your Name, we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to Your law, we may show forth Your praise among the nations of the earth. In times of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in days of trouble, suffer not our trust in You to fail.

And let us say, Amen.

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