Pray For Pastor Rick

Jason Reed, Reuters

In the spirit of unity that has swept our nation ever since the inauguration, I think we should all take a moment to pray for Pastor Rick. He has the sniffles. It seems a certain coldness in the air has made him ill. And as the dawn of a new era is upon us, Warren was tragically forced to cancel a profoundly historic webcast to his church on Wednesday:

Of course, as a card-carrying member of the liberal elite, I have little experience at praying. But doggonit, I sure was moved by the pro-gay parts of Warren's invocation. In good faith, I trust that Pastor Rick won't mind me recycling the gay-friendly highlights of his invocation as I pray for him. He's the master—and I totally suck at praying—so out of respect for his gay-friendly poetry, I've placed my parts in italics. Here goes:

Let us pray.

Almighty God... everything we see and everything we can't see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory.

You are loving to everyone you have made.

Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the Earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.

I'd also like to implore you, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus to bring about a quick healing for Pastor Rick's sniffles. It was icy on the mall yesterday and he's feeling congested—even though he was wearing that Chronicles of Narnia sweatshirt he got for Jesus' birthday beneath his suit. And wow, that second plate of jalapeno poppers at Chi Chi's totally made his tummy hurt! Heal this great heterosexual man, Oh Hosana. Oh, and can you fix that stuff in Gaza, Iraq, and maybe look into the violence in the Congo after you're done. You know, if you have time?

May all people of goodwill today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet.

Amen.

By the way, Rick, I know you're on the mend, relaxing to Melissa Etheridge records. But as you drink hot cocoa in your palm-tree-and-parrot-print pajamas, you should check out Gene Robinson's invocation Few people heard it, and it could never be as kick-ass (or as pro-gay) as yours. Still, I'm praying that you'll be inspired.

Comments

[Luvial]

"we are Americans, united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all" Is he kidding? Since he strives and preaches others to deny freedom and justice for homosexuals in the name of his god, does this mean that he does not consider homosexuals to be Americans or citizens or human beings? What is it "Reverend" Rick? Please explain the contradiction in your words. Or are you just lieing in the name of your lord?

[larry278]

Are we praying for Pastor Rick to stop preying upon us? Pastor Rick could benefit from entering in & using a program of behavior modification. We could pray that Pastor Rick gains the courage to search for behaviour modification programs to recover from homophobia & the judgment skills to select the program which most closely meets his needs & the ability &/or personal dedication to stick with the program, use it, ask questions, change his opinions & views. We are asking a lot of & for Pastor Rick. He will need strength to develop & use new skills. Perhaps Pastor Rick's God may see fit to grant our prayers for Pastor Rick. It could be a good to ask Pastor Rick's God to help Pastor Rick see the programs that Pastor Rick's God sees as being best suited to Pastor Rick's needs. Pastor Rick's God knows Pastor Rick better than anyone in the universe. Pastor Rick's God made Pastor Rick. Pastor Rick's God loves Pastor Rick far better than any human might love Pastor Rick. This is one of those cases when we must let go & let God do it with Pastor Rick's cooperation.

[NoFactsJustTruth]

"...pray for Pastor Rick."


IF I believed, I 'might' pray for his BIGOTRY to be cured, because that IS a choice.

[lbhart]

Can I get an Amen?

[SiberianRat]

I thought his prayer was benign but uninspiring--was a bunch of blah blah to me. I do think he tried to make sure he was inclusive, but the whole thing was very flat, IMO. I think he probably has softened on his anti-gay stance and the best we can hope for is that he simply shuts up about it altogether.

[StrangerThanFiction]

BECAUSE HIS PRAYER SOUNDED INCLUSIVE...I AM NOT CONVINCED.... THAT HE IS CONVINCED... THAT HE SHOULD BE INCLUSIVE OF ALL PEOPLE... FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE!

WHY WOULD HE GIVE UP THAT MOMENT IN HISTORY TO BE DIVISIVE! IT PAYS OFF MORE IN CLOUT, MEMBERSHIP, DONATIONS, FAVORS...ETC...TO HAVE BEEN INCLUSIVE FOR LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES OUT OF HIS LIFE!!!

I AM SURE GLAD THAT JESUS WAS INCLUSIVE FOR ALL OF HIS!!! I FOUND THAT BY OPENING YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS TO ALL WHO LIVE ON THIS EARTH....ALL CHILDREN OF GOD...THAT MY LIFE HAS BEEN BLESSED!!!

I JUST HOPE THAT MOST MINISTERS....BELIEVE AND PRACTICE WHAT THEY PREACH!!! FOR MOST...I DON'T BELIEVE THAT THEY DO!!!

I HOPE THE OPEN HEART OF BARACK OBAMA TO RICK WARREN...GIVES HIM PAUSE AND INSPIRES HIM TO BE THE SAME!!!