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My Liturgical Loophole
How I’ve managed to avoid praying for a President I despise
As Christians go, I’m not particularly a standout. Too ornery, too desultory, too sweary. Pastoral instincts invariably overwhelmed by prophetic fire. Kind of a scorched-earth witness.
But when I go to church — something I miss, so much, during this pandemic — part of the service includes the “Prayers of the People,” and one part of that prayer time entails praying for the nation’s government and leaders. And for the last four years, that has been something of a challenge. But I’ve found a workaround. I think God would approve of my creativity.
I am an Episcopalian, not by birth but by choice.
I chose to stow my little soul away within the nave of this sturdy old ark of a church because the liturgy and the prayers and the communion of saints became rivers of living water for me, in me. So I boarded the good old ship and I am braving the storm of my days somewhere down below decks, where the people who love wine and food and sex and gossip and slapstick comedy hang out together.
But on Sunday mornings, when we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we say prayers for the whole order of creation, including the institution of human government.
