Upon invitation of the President, the following prayer was offered by Senator Laird, as written by the Chaplain, Sister Michelle Gorman, RSM:
Let us pray in the words of Howard Thurman:
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Thy altar!
…War and the threat of war has covered us with heavy shadows,
Making the days big with forebodings—
…We do not know how to do what we know to do.
We do not know how to be what we know to be.
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Thy altar!
Brood over our spirits, Our Father,
Blow upon whatever dream Thou hast for us
That there may glow once again upon our hearths
The light from Thy altar.
Pour out upon us whatever our spirits need of shock, of lift, of release
That we may find strength for these days—
Courage and hope for tomorrow.
In confidence we rest in Thy sustaining grace
Which makes possible triumph in defeat, gain in loss, and love in hate.
We rejoice this day to say:
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Thy alter!—AMEN.
(“Our Little Lives”- inMediations of the Heart by Thurman Howard)
