For those of us who suffered through any part of the Democrats’ convention the past few days, there were at least two bright spots: Gabby Gifford’s appearance on stage last night, leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance; and the benediction at the close of the gathering, offered by the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Thomas Dolan:

 
Some of the highlights:

We thank You for showering your blessing upon this our beloved nation.
 
We beseech you, almighty God to shed your grace on this noble experiment in ordered liberty, which began with the confident assertion of inalienable rights bestowed upon us by you: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
 
Thus do we praise you for the gift of life. Grant us the courage to defend it, life, without which no other rights are secure…
 
We praise and thank you for the gift of liberty. May this land of the free never lack those brave enough to defend our basic freedoms. Renew in all our people a profound respect for religious liberty: the first, most cherished freedom bequeathed upon us at our Founding…
 
We praise and thank you for granting us the life and the liberty by which we can pursue happiness. Show us anew that happiness is found only in respecting the laws of nature and of nature’s God. Empower us with your grace so that we might resist the temptation to replace the moral law with idols of our own making, or to remake those institutions you have given us for the nurturing of life and community…
 
And most of all, God Almighty, we thank you for the great gift of our beloved country.
 
For we are indeed “one nation under God,” and “in God we trust.”
 
So dear God, bless America. You who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen!

 
After the earlier attempt by the radical wing of the party to throw God under the bus, I’m sure there were some convention attendees who were less than thrilled with the Cardinal’s prayer. (Particularly the pro-abortion crowd and the LGBT community!)
But knowing that the Lord works in mysterious ways, let’s pray that this was a moment of revelation, at least for some of them.
 
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Related:
Wisdom is Crying Out At the DNC ~ Excellent post by Pastor Bill Randles considers the DNC convention as a parable in our troubled times, as our society pursues every god but the one True One ~

America is in trouble and her problem isn’t merely political or financial. We have become enslaved to false gods, and a good portion of us prefer them to even so much as a mention of the real God! Only repentance and revival can bring this nation back from the abyss she looks into.

 
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Related:
‘F**k Cardinal Dolan!’: Liberals Send Explicit Tweets About Catholic Leader Following Pro-Life Prayer at the DNC ~ As if to prove the Cardinal’s point that America is indeed in trouble and in need of repentance, the radical Left reacts with typical charming tolerance.