Wednesday, November 3, 2004
A Statement from the Presiding Bishop
[Episcopal News Service] Having come through one of the most vitriolic
and divisive election campaigns any of us has ever experienced, we
now look ahead to the next
four years and the continuing leadership of President Bush. For many of
our fellow citizens this is a cause for rejoicing. For others it is an
occasion for despair. Given the polarizing rhetoric that has been employed throughout
the campaign, it may be very difficult to find our way
forward. Therefore, what is needed now on all sides is a genuine effort
to move beyond entrenched positions and to seek common ground. What is
needed now is a unifying vision, clearly articulated, of our great nation as
a
servant of all the world’s peoples in their yearning after justice and peace.
Our President has consistently named his religious faith as the guiding force
of his decisions, and our nation proclaims in the “Pledge of Allegiance” that
we are one nation “under God.” Such obedience to God obliges us to look
always to the well-being of a world broken and bleeding, which God loves so much
that he came among us in the person of Jesus to reconcile to himself and
to save. Such obedience obliges us to ground our national policies
in much more than self-interest and self-protection.
Let us pray that in the difficult and challenging days ahead we together,
regardless of our several points of view, along with our President, may be
faithful to what
the Lord requires. And, as the prophet Micah tells us, what the Lord requires
is “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your God.”
The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church, USA
November 3, 2004
updated
11/04/04
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