How Do We Pray For Our Nation This Night?

One of my favorite bloggers is a wonderful woman who goes by The Anchoress. This is a night our nation desperately needs anchoring. In this post, she speaks to the question: How do we pray for our nation this night:

. . .when the Bush-Gore recount battle was going on, I asked my parish priest, a very wise man who loves Christ, how to discern God’s will. I wasn’t asking so much for his opinion on the politics of the day but when I am in one of these political battles and a religious person, can I discern God’s will in the course of trying to decide whether I should write letters, call my Congressperson, or whatever?

His simple answer was “God’s will will always be for the salvation of the individual involved.”

So I try every day now to pray for the salvation of the president, all members of Congress, and the American people. I cast my cares upon the Lord.

We are in a deeper battle here, which you well know . . . I also think in the end this all has to do with the salvation of souls, including the souls of our president and these politicians who deign to rule over the rest of us. I think we who believe must hold fast to Christ, the True Center, and bring as many along with us as possible.

Yes. How perfectly right. God’s will will always be for the salvation of the individual involved. And it follows that the salvation of the individual involved will lie in that individual’s conforming him/herself to the Word and Will of God.

Individuals.

It's how God sees us. Individuals making decisions that effect other individuals.

I've been reading The Breach, a history of the Clinton Impeachment. This was another dark time in our Nation's history. In the midst of that time, one man made a heroic and painful decision.

Bob Livingston was set to be the new Speaker of the House. But he also knew that his affair of years before was being released to the media. He knew he could not govern the House under such circumstances. He took the floor on the second day of the House debate on Impeachment.

If you watched the debate on that Saturday morning, the screen was split between the House, and the U.S. bombardment of Baghdad, in order to stop Saddam from continuing his research on weapons of mass destruction.  A dramatic day, soon to be made even more riveting by Rep. Livingston's resignation, and his call on Clinton to do the same thing. He showed courage and honor, an example of bravery I hope is remembered tomorrow, as another historic House debate gets underway.
Bob Livingston's fateful speech begins around 1900.