An Independence Day Prayer: Reflection from the Rev. Jake Joseph

We the people...
We the humans. 
We humanity. 
We the child. We the parents. We the strong. We the advocate. You. Me. Them. WE!
We who are mortal, temporary, transient on this fragile planet: 

We, God, hold these truths to be self-evident [but maybe not as self-evident to everyone as we had assumed...all these 242 years] that all people are created equal, enabled, beloved, touched by a hint of the divine spark, maintained by a universal grace in equality of person, status, and importance.

We are intrinsically and deeply endowed, God, by you, Almighty Love that Drives the Stars and Forms Planets, with certain unalienable, irrevocable, cannot be questioned prerogatives!

Rights.
Respect.
Dignity. 
Freedoms! 

God, you give us Life. 
May it not be taken away by someone with a gun. 
May it not be taken away by incarceration or confinement. 
May none revoke what you have given by birth.

God, you give us Liberty. 
May we learn to work for the freedom and liberation of all. 
May none live in fear of unjust imprisonment. 
May none fear for the liberty of their children or children's children. 

God, you give us the peace and hope to pursue happiness. 
May you protect the happiness of LGBTQ people and the legal safety of our marriages.
 May you preserve the happiness of those who are immigrants hoping for a better future. 
May you protect the pursuit of happiness in the fundamentals of community togetherness. 
Help us, O Love, help us to remember how to pursue happiness as a country. 

Happiness not dominance. 
Happiness not pain pills. 
Happiness not guns.
Happiness not power over others. 
Happiness not war. 

God who endowed us with every hope, every strength, and capacity to love, renew in us a declaration of independence from the narratives of pain, trends of oppression, purveyors of scarcity, salespeople of fear that seek to do harm to your Realm of Everlasting peace in heaven as it is on earth.  

We pray for independence from daily fear and ask for your strength to give us words of love and courage for this time. 

We thank you for this beautiful country filled with kind and diverse people. We do love our neighbors, generally, and try to treat them well. We thank you for a Constitution that protects our freedoms and our optimism for the future and which separates powers. 

We the people, God, give you thanks and ask for your protection, your wisdom, and your love for all people created equal in liberty, life, and all seeking and encountering happiness. 

We the people have hope still. 

Amen.

Author

The Rev. Jake Miles Joseph ("just Jake"), Associate Minister, came to Plymouth in 2014 having served in the national setting of the UCC on the board of Justice & Witness Ministries, the Coalition for LGBT Concerns, and the Chairperson of the Council for Youth and Young Adult Ministries (CYYAM). Jake has a passion for ecumenical work and has worked in a wide variety of churches and traditions. Read more about him on our staff page.