Read My Lips - the blog

Continuing the Spirit I

As my loyal fans know, I had published many of my late father's former columns in a continuin' series under this Category name. All such columns have already been published. Such were unique, fraught with every urban legend that has come along from time to time dealin' with decadence in our society and the like. Well, my favorite aunt sent me somethin' today that I thought was profound and was somethin' Rusty would have seized upon to blurb about in his column.

Mindful of the very proclivity of Urban Legends to be forwarded along in emails, I did take the opportunity to check the following through snopes.com, which somewhat corrected the version forwarded from my aunt. The following is snopes version of the January, 1999 prayer before the Kansas House of Representative by Rev. Joe Wright, senior pastor of the 2,500-member Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas.

Heavenly Father, we come before you to ask your forgiveness. We seek your direction and your guidance. We know your word says, "Woe to those who call evil good." But that's what we've done.

We've lost our spiritual equilibrium. We have inverted our values. We have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word in the name of moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.

We've exploited the poor and called it a lottery. We've neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. In the name of choice, we have killed our unborn. In the name of right to life, we have killed abortionists.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it taxes. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, oh, God, and know our hearts today. Try us. Show us any wickedness within us. Cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of the State of Kansas, and that they have been ordained by you to govern this great state.

Grant them your wisdom to rule. May their decisions direct us to the center of your will. And, as we continue our prayer and as we come in out of the fog, give us clear minds to accomplish our goals as we begin this Legislature. For we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Rusty would have loved this!