A Concord Pastor Comments

7/5/26

Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 7/5

This weekend, Lord,

we celebrate our nation's birthday

and our independence

from those who would oppress us...

Independence:

a freedom declared by claiming the right

to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,

calling on you, Supreme Judge of all,

to witness our righteous intentions...

But this year's 4th is shadowed, Lord,

by discord, strident and angry,

by betrayal wounding our unity,

tearing the fabric of mutual trust,

each time we default to selfish folly

and ignore your wisdom and grace...

Hear our prayer, Lord!

Give us reason to hope and cause to rejoice!

Wash away the many faults and sins

that betray our unalienable rights

to life, to liberty and the pursuit of happiness...

Restore our good will and integrity, Lord

til we learn again and earn the right

to be called a godly nation...

Make us worthy of gifts which you endow

and by which we struggle to build and be

one great nation, under God,

with sweet liberty and justice for all...

Amen.

Pray for America
by Old Crow Medicine show

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When sorrows are befallen
And shadows darken her door
When the fever spreads and a silent scourge
Outshines her golden shores
When a cry for comfort reaches forth
Like you've never heard before
Pray for America
Our promised land

America, to thee
May God's hand outreach
Lord, have mercy on America

When the tears just keep falling
And the glory light's gone dim
And the barren ground is full of holes
We hasten to fill in
When the firmest faith is shaken fast
By a fear that's creeping in
Pray for America
Our promised land

America, to thee
May God's hand outreach
Lord, have mercy on America

Where the peaceful hour is broken
By the pounding tumult quake
And all is torn asunder
What we thought could never break
Well, all your saints come marching
Through hell for heaven's sake
Pray for America
Our promised land

America, to thee
May God's hand outreach
Lord, have mercy on America
Oh, pray for America
God, set Your grace on thee

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7/4/26

On this 250th anniversary of the United States I've been waiting to hear some words about my homeland that might stir my heart to gratitude for all America has been for me, given me - and, I hope - will continue to be. In this video, I've found a world leader whose words have touched and blessed that place in my heart where love for my country is deeply rooted.

Yesterday (7/3), the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia awarded Pope Leo XIV its 2026 Liberty Medal.

Speaking on the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, he praised America's enduring commitment to life, liberty, human dignity, religious freedom, and the pursuit of happiness, while urging the nation to remain faithful to its founding principles.

Calling America 'the land of the free and the home of the brave,' Pope Leo emphasized that unity, justice, peace, and respect for human dignity must continue to guide the nation into its next 250 years. His speech highlighted the importance of protecting freedom of conscience, safeguarding every human life, strengthening national unity, and renewing the values that have shaped the United States since 1776.

The pope's remarks here are thoughtful, wise, challenging: his words made me proud to be Catholic and American...

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NIGHT PRAYER: Fourth of July

Once again we're celebrating Independence Day- and that's a good thing for which I'm very grateful - but perhaps today we should also remember our DEpendencies and the many ways and many times when what we're dependent on is even more important than what we're independent from...

Keep us dependent on you, Lord,
the source of our life
and every good gift that's ours...

Keep us dependent on you,
our only reason for being...

Keep us dependent on your wisdom, Lord,
especially when our own folly and foolishness
tempt us to think

that we know more than you do...

Keep us dependent on your love for us:
   the purest, gentlest, kindest, most merciful love
       we shall ever know and have...

Keep us dependent on your word, Lord,
   the word of your truth;
keep us dependent on a truth so much greater
   than our own assumptions and delusions...

Keep us dependent on your voice, Lord,
always calling us to love with no strings attached,
calling us to forgive one another

as freely as you forgive us,
and to welcome the stranger and care for the helpless...

Keep us dependent on your grace, Lord,

your Spirit alive within us

without whom we can do nothing

and with whom we become all you made us to be...

Keep us dependent on your promise, Lord,
your pledge of life forever;

keep us faithful to your promise

   especially when we prefer
       things to people,
       ourselves to others,
       and death to life...

Keep us dependent on your generous mercy, Lord,

and generous in the mercy we have for all,

remembering we're always in debt to you

for compassion, forgiveness and pardon...

And keep us dependent on one another, Lord,
    remembering our need for our neighbors
       and our neighbors' need for us:
keep us interdependent your grateful people,
    together always dependent on you...

Protect us, Lord, while we're awake

and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

Three musical selections to choose from this evening! The first is a rousing South African freedom song, the second a simple chant composed by a Jewish cantor, and the third a jazz offering from Oscar Peterson.

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Freedom Is Coming
by The Saint Olaf Choir

Circle Round for Freedom
by Linda Hirschorn

Hymn to Freedom
by Oscar Peterson

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America the Beautiful

I hope you'll take some time this weekend to enjoy this stunning arrangement of America the Beautiful by Matthew Guard and Benedict Sheehan performed here by the vocal ensemble Skylark.

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O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,

Whose stern impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

May God thy gold refine,

Till all success be nobleness,

And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

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Pause for Prayer: Fourth of July

Image source

On this Fourth of July weekend so let's recall Emma Lazarus' poem inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty who extends a welcome, a haven, a refuge for the burdened and battered... How many of us are the grandchildren and great grandchildren of ancestors who wept for joy when they sailed into New York harbor and saw Lady Liberty? In the video here, Irving Berlin provides a powerful musical setting for these beautiful words... (My Pause for Prayer follows below..)

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Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Let's pause and pray...

Lord, open wide my heart
   to welcome any and all
who've been turned out,
   turned aside and turned away:
in my family, in my neighborhood
   where I work and 'round the world...

May the light of my words and deeds
   lift high a lamp of welcome
and my heart provide a home
   for the weary, heavy burdened...

Let my heart open wide for others, Lord,
   as your heart opens wide for me...

Amen.

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7/3/26

Praying on the Night Before the Fourth

It's the night before the Fourth of July:

Independence Day, our nation's birthday...

Before we don our red, white and blue

and ooh! and ahh! the fireworks glory,

before the backyard grill is lit

and the potato salad spoils,

before the cooler's filled with cold beer

- and all too quickly emptied -

before all this let's stop and remember

what the Fourth is all about...

Help us keep in our minds and our hearts, Lord:

Independence was declared unanimously!

Yes, there'd been discord and yes, division

but these were let go for something far greater:

the cause of the union, the welfare of all...

Our rights as equals number three:

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

rights declared and understood

as self-evident, unalienable,

endowed on us all

by you, Lord, our Creator...

But now in our selfish and stubborn pride:

we argue and debate the self-evident,

we deny and restrict the unalienable,

we trade our God-given liberty for

for license, profit and gain,

redefining the terms of existence,

forgetting all we have received...

Stir up in our minds and hearts, Lord,

in those who make laws and govern,

stir up those simple, self-evident truths

that long ago laid the foundation

for the beauty, the strength and the promise

of this nation we call our home...

Protect us, Lord while we're awake

and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

Tonight's music for "the night before the Fourth" is a simple variation on a familiar patriotic song. Listen for how, in the second verse, the melody gives up the pain we know when we forget the source of our life, liberty and happiness - and in the third verse, how that joy is restored!

Improvisation on America the Beautiful

by Jeffrey Kahane

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7/1/26

Taking a break!

On Friday morning this week I'll be flying to Denver to spend a couple months with my sister and bro-in-law.

I have a LOT to do before I get to the airport so I won't be posting tonight or tomorrow.

See you on the eve of the Fourth of July!

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6/30/26

Pause for Prayer: 7/1

Especially, Lord,

when fears and worries

       cloud my days and shadow my heart,
   remind me of the peace I've known
       and kindle memories of moments past
   when I was oh-so-very-sure
       of your presence your peace and your love...

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 6/30

The last sunset in June, Lord!

I'll wake in the morning (God willing!)

and open my eyes to the first of July!

Half of 2026 - now history -

and in just six months (God willing!)

I'll toast a new year

- in which I'll turn 80...

Looking back, Lord, I see six months of blessings:

your kindness, your mercy,

your patience, your peace,

your presence, your grace...

And I see six months of missed opportunities:

too many shortcuts and too many naps,

too much time wasted that might have been shared

too much for me, not enough for my neighbor...

But a whole new half-year now stretches before me:

six months to grow in my faith in you,

six months to reach out to others in need,

six months to find some time every day

to sit with you, to talk with you

and rest in your arms...

As the sun goes down tonight on June

so will it rise with the dawn's early light

on the rest of my summer, the rest of this year,

the rest of the time you've allotted for me..

Make me a more faithful steward, O Lord,

of the gift of time that is my life...

Help me give thanks, in wonder and awe,

as your seasons of grace,

like the moon and the tides

enlighten and pull me closer to you

as the earth turns 'round, and month by month,

I'm called and drawn to the mystery of life,

the mystery of your faithful love...

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

and asleep rest in your peace...

Amen.

Seasons of love from Rent
performed by Pentatonix

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Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets

In midnights, in cups of coffee

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure, a year in the life?

How about love? How about love? How about love?

Measure in love Seasons of love Seasons of love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand journeys to plan

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?

In truths that she learned Or in times that he cried

In bridges he burned Or the way that she died

It's time now, to sing out The story never ends

Let's celebrate Remember a year in the life of friends

Remember the love

(Oh, you got to, you got to remember the love)

Remember the love

(You now that love is a gift from up above)

Remember the love

(Share love, give love, spread love)

Measure in love

(Measure, measure your life in love)

Seasons of love

(Measure your life, measure your life in love)

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Pause for Prayer: Tuesday 6/30

I know a lot folks whose plates are full, Lord - filled to overflowing!

They have so much on their minds: their hearts are burdened with worry and fear about situations and circumstances that are demanding, serious and very real...

These are folks who need a break, Lord, who need something good to happen, who need something to give them hope...

They need something good to happen as they wait and wait and wait for a turn of events in the right direction, for a piece of good news, a brighter day, a heaping helping of positive thoughts the strength to trust and a sign from you that all things
shall be well...

So many people, Lord, who just need something good to happen in their lives...

Since you, Lord, are the source of all good gifts... since every good gift that's ours comes from your hand and heart... since you more than anyone understand our plea for something good to happen... I pray for you to move - and move graciously and swiftly - with a generous and healing hand, offering heaping helpings of hope to those who wait - for something good to happen...

And while we wait, Lord - and I know that waiting is always a part of how things go - while we wait, Lord, help us know and see that you are with us in the waiting... and help us hope and help us to trust that all things shall be well, that all things shall be well, that all manner of things - shall be well...

Amen.

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