Blog Posts By God's Politics Editor

God, we pray today with many Christian leaders for our country's immigration system and the millions of people who are negatively affected by the current standstill in congress. Help our leaders develop a fair and just immigration reform plan. Help us, as the church, to continuously seek ways to love our neighbors and the strangers around us. Amen.

When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year (which is the year of the tithe), giving it to the Levites, the aliens, the orphans, and the widows, so that they may eat their fill within your towns. - Deuteronomy 26:12 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

“Long, blue, spiky-edged shadows crept out across the snow-fields, while a rosy glow, at first scarce discernible, gradually deepened and suffused every mountain-top, flushing the glaciers and the harsh crags above them. This was the alpenglow, to me the most impressive of all the terrestrial manifestations of God. At the touch of this divine light, the mountains seemed to kindle to a rapt, religious consciousness, and stood hushed like devout worshippers waiting to be blessed.” - John Muir from The Wild Muir + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

As people of faith, united in prayer we ask that the most vulnerable will be protected in our national budget decisions. God, may our members of Congress be encouraged to remember those most in need. Amen.

For six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your home-born slave and the resident alien may be refreshed. - Exodus 23:12 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

We have no right to our possessions; they have been entrusted to us for the good of all. Let us then invest with the Lord what he has given us, for we have nothing that does not come from [God]: we are dependent upon [God] for our very existence. And we ourselves particularly, who have a special and a greater debt, since God not only created us but purchased us as well; what can we regard as our own when we do not possess even ourselves? - Paulinus Of Nola + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Lord, help us to welcome every guest as if we were welcoming you, delighting in their presence and ready to learn what good news they bring to us. Amen.

Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. - Romans 12:13 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

The Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on gun control in the new Congress this morning. The first witness was former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who survived being shot in the head two years ago.  Here, via CBS News, is her statement."Thank you for inviting me here today. This is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, for Democrats, and Republicans."Speaking is difficult but I need to say something important."Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying — too many children. We must do something."It will be hard. But the time is now. You must act. Be bold. Be Courageous. Americans are counting on you. Thank you."Other witnesses included Gifford’s husband Mark Kelly, James Johnson, chief of police for Baltimore County, Md., and chairman of the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence, and Wayne LaPierre, CEO and Executive Vice President of the NRA.

You shall have one law for the alien and for the citizen: for I am the Lord your God. - Leviticus 24:22 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

The Associated Press reports that the Senate has confirmed John Kerry as Secretary of State with a 94-3 vote. Earlier today, the Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved the nomination.  Kerry, a Vietnam veteran and five-term Senator, replaces Hillary Clinton as Secretary.

Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath.' - Mark 2:27 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. - Mahatma Gandhi + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Lord, I am so often overtaken by machines, trapped by technology. Help me to find my life again, enhanced and not eroded by these technical aids. Help me to take control, at least in my heart, and put them in their place. Help me, Lord, to rejoice at the machines, and to be hopeful about the future benefits they can bring. May technology serve us Lord, so that we may better serve one another, and you. Amen Adapted from a prayer on aftersunday.org.uk

Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. - Zechariah 7:10 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ - Luke 10:36-37 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

We are already one. We just think we are separate. - Thomas Merton + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Dear God, sometimes it is as though all we see around us is a world stricken with conflict. However, your gospel preaches reconciliation to this hurting world. May we be vessels of this reconciliation today as we pursue love in our own relationships.

Editor's Note: The following is a transcript of President Barack Obama's remarks following his swearing in during Monday's Inauguration ceremony.  THE PRESIDENT:  Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:  Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution.  We affirm the promise of our democracy.  We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names.  What makes us exceptional -- what makes us American -- is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time.  For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they’ve never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth.  (Applause.)  The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob.  They gave to us a republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.  And for more than two hundred years, we have. [continuted]

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. - Hebrews 10:31 + Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Humanity has learned to harness the power of the tides and the sun and the moon. Someday in the future, humanity will learn to harness the power of love, and for the second time in history, we will discover fire. - Teilhard De Chardin + Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Lord, we know that to live by the flesh is death, but to live by the Spirit is life. Still, you have redeemed the flesh of the world through your incarnation. Teach us how to be in the world but not of it. Amen.