Dear Friends –
You will recall my last message dealt with Harry Truman’s proclamation declaring Memorial Day as a national day of prayer to supplicate God’s guidance in search of a lasting peace. One thing I did not know is that President Truman’s successor, Dwight Eisenhower, made a similar proclamation every year of his presidency.
In a way, I found this fact to be a bit curious. Truman and Eisenhower shared a mutual respect for each during and shortly after World War II. Truman awarded Eisenhower with the Distinguished Service Award three times. In 1948, Truman was willing to step aside to allow Ike to run as the democratic nominee for president. In 1951, Truman recalled a retired Eisenhower to serve as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in 1951.
But things changed dramatically during the 1952 presidential election, when Eisenhower was the Republican nominee for president. While campaigning for Adlai Stevenson, Truman (in the only way Truman could do) criticized Ike’s political inexperience, saying that “the General doesn’t know any more about politics than a pig knows about Sunday.” Needless to say, the mutual respect was gone. On the day of his inauguration, Eisenhower refused to even have coffee with Truman. It wasn’t until JFK’s funeral that the two men were able to repair their broken friendship. The last time they met was in 1966 at a United Nations lunch at the Hotel Muehlebach in Kansas City. Milton Eisenhower (Ike’s brother), who sat with them, said that “all the old animosities were forgotten.”
As we prepare to celebrate the quarter millennial of our Nation’s founding, please let us continue to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. Have a safe and happy Independence Day!
Steve
Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Source: The Book of Common Prayer (1979), “For the Nation,” p. 258
On national holidays, the Church’s witness is both patriotic and pastoral. We give thanks for the blessings of this land, while also praying for its healing, unity, and common life. We intercede for those who govern, for those who serve, and for all citizens, that divisions may be softened and the common good sincerely sought. While Independence Day rightly celebrates national freedom, the Church also prays more broadly for the well-being and unity of all people within the nation. The Collect for the Nation, appointed in the Book of Common Prayer, reminds the faithful that liberty finds its truest expression in justice, mercy, and mutual care. It calls the Church to intercede for those who govern and for citizens alike—that all may seek the common good under God’s providence. In a time when public life can feel strained and fragmented, the Church remembers that true liberty is strengthened by justice, sustained by compassion, and ordered toward the flourishing of all people under God’s providence.