CHELSEA LANGSTON BOMBINO
Editor's Note: This article is part of the Center for Public Justice’s “Prayers for our Political Community” series of short essays and daily prayers on key themes, written by Christians, starting the evening before Election Day and continuing through the day after the 2021 Presidential Inauguration.
Several years ago, my husband and I moved to a place a few miles from a community in the Patapsco River Valley that was originally settled by Quakers in the 1770s. The physical buildings, bridges, and walls preserved from this era are almost entirely built from local stones. As I pass through the historical areas of this community, I am drawn to two-hundred-year-old stone dwellings, remnants of stone walls, and several well-preserved stone churches. These unmoving, humble stone structures often call to mind our Creator, whose image is both the Architect and Cornerstone. These buildings have stood, some since the founding of our country. A stonemason friend of mine once told me that the small differences in each stone in a wall can actually strengthen the architectural integrity of the building. I know not whether this is true, but it serves as a resonant metaphor for this moment.
Our political community contains many individuals and institutions who are shaped very differently in terms of the beliefs and identities they hold most sacred. Yet the government's role is to uphold peace, like the stone wall whose structure and design upholds structural soundness between the varied stones. The concept of government as an object of prayer can seem abstract. One way to pray for government is to pray for the people themselves working in government, both elected officials and civil servants, as well as government contractors, partners, and collaborators. Like individual stones that together construct a dwelling, government workers are often the hidden infrastructure that upholds the administration of public justice, which is the task of government.
Those carrying out the task of government bear God’s image, in the particular role of administering civil government. It may not be the first image that comes to mind when we think of God, but God as Stone is a theme that I have become particularly compelled by. 1 Peter 2:4-5 says: “As you come to him, the living Stone- rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.” When I reflect on how local, state, and federal government officials carry out the task of cultivating a positive peace in our pluralistic society, I am filled with gratitude for the humble service that upholds the civic architecture of our political communities. The impact of those carrying out the tasks of government is often unseen and their work not generally well understood, yet they image our Creator in the most essential of ways, they administer the government's right role (often in partnership with civil society organizations) in education, public safety, natural resources, labor, and other key areas.
In A Covenant to Keep: Meditations on the Biblical Theme of Justice, James Skillen writes: “It’s fascinating to track the biblical story of human divine dwelling places. From stone markers in the desert to Solomon’s temple, from the land of Canaan to the four corners of the earth, from the Garden of Eden to the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, God is present with his people.” Won’t you join me in a prayer of thanksgiving for those that every day assure that the government's right role of upholding justice is illuminated in almost every area of human responsibility, especially in this challenging and polarized moment? Thank you, God, for your justice. Thank you for the individuals working in our government who work together across differences to administer justice in our land.
Prayer:
Father God, you alone are our Rock and our Creator. Our Architect. Our Cornerstone. In you, all things hold together. In you, all things were created. Each pebble. Each stone. All of creation images you in their ways. All of creation shouts your sacred beauty. And all of creation groans in anticipation of the fulfillment and final restoration of our Living Stone. You alone will roll back the final stone of death and sin. Already. Not yet.
We pray this day for our government and those who serve in it. We pray for local governments, may they advance peace in our land. We pray for state governments, may they advance peace in our land. We pray for our federal government, may it advance peace in our land. We pray for those serving in legislative, executive, and judicial roles. Help them to make, implement, and interpret laws that uphold public justice.
We pray for those who administer justice. Sustain them. Show your face to them. Prosper them. Creator. Architect. Cornerstone. Living Stone. Help those carrying out the work of government to dwell in your Spiritual House. Here and now. Help them see their work as the worship it is. Help them administer public justice. In ways big and small. Help them be pebbles for You that reverberate justice. Help them be cornerstones for You in the architecture of our civil government. Help them be shaped by You, gently and constantly. As a river washes over river stones, smoothing their edges through constant saturation.
Oh Lord, Our Living Water. Our Living Stone. All in all. Oh Lord, hear our prayer. Hear the prayers of all our relations.
Amen.
Chelsea Langston Bombino is a wife, mother, and engager in communities — political to the sacred.
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