02/18/2011 - Daily Prayer

This coming Monday our country will celebrate President’s Day and honor the men who have taken on the sacred and difficult task of leading our country.
Looking down at us in this chamber is a portrait of our first president, a man who set a high standard for leadership and character for us all. Both as General Washington and as President Washington, he dedicated
himself to the service of others, and while he endured many hardships while in the service of our country, he found meaning in serving a cause larger than himself.
He said that he believed that “happiness and moral duty are
inseparably connected.”President Washington understood that true happiness comes not from pursuing fame or fortune, but from living a life of meaning, pursuing the
greater good, and living according to one’s highest aspirations.
We give thanks to the Holy One for blessing this country with leaders throughout our history who have stepped forward in times of peace and war, prosperity and hardship, presidents whose noble endeavors haveinspired us to serve our country as well.
May the Holy One of Blessing grant that we be like them in their finest moments and may God grant that we too should find joy in our responsibilities, value from serving others, and happiness in living our lives with a sense of moral duty.
May this be God’s will.—AMEN.