Norms

God of Wisdom, I pray for guidance for all of us who care for this country as a terribly flawed but hopeful experiment in democratic governance. For some of us, the election of the current resident of the White House was unimaginable, because his behavior runs afoul of social and political norms. His actions since the inauguration have been similar--disregard and disdain for basic manners, honesty, decency, integrity, governmental protocol, and the noblest values of our country. For others, the election of President Barack Obama was unimaginable because it ran afoul of one of the most deeply entrenched social and political norms in America: those in power are expected to be white. Right now we, as a nation, are deciding which of these social and political norms we wish to hand on to our children. Help us, God. Amen.