On National Prayer Day (May 6, 2010)

At the flagpoles in cities around the country, men and women will gather to pray for our nation on May 6, 2010-- while sitting in the pew and pondering on the state of our nation (and our state and county), I was drawn to Deuteronomy 16:19-20. The verse in the New American Standard version reads (it just happened to be the version I picked up going out the door this morning):

"You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe,

for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.

Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land

the Lord your God is giving you."

With the National Day of Prayer coming before us, the formula seems fairly simple if we want to live and possess the land we have called home for over two centuries.