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Invocation for Bethel Democratic Town Committee Annual Dinner - April 2017

Delivering the invocation

Holy One of Blessing, Creator of all humanity, we come together tonight to praise a woman of valor, Mary Gert McCollam. You know, friends, Mary Gert is mentioned in our holy scriptures. We read in the Book of Proverbs:
Mary Gert McCollam

Who can find a woman of valor?
The price of a woman of integrity is far above rubies.
She wears strength and beauty and she laughs at the future.
She opens her mouth with wisdom and the learning of kindness is on her tongue.
Give her of the fruit of her hands.
She will rejoice in the time to come,
Let her works be praised on this earth.

May Mary Gert and her lovely family be blessed now and always.

Holy One of Blessing, Creator of all humanity, we ask your blessing on the Bethel Democratic Town Committee. It is fitting that Mary Gert is receiving the Shannon Award for Public Service; may we always remember that our mission – Mary Gert’s and the Shannons’ mission – is to serve Bethel with compassion, integrity, dignity, uprightness, and honesty.  May we always remember to protect and speak for the weakest among us, those who feel disenfranchised and forgotten. We are directed to speak up for the widow and the widower, the orphan, the immigrant, those who look and speak differently from us.

Let our actions be guided by Rabbi Hillel, who taught: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? Our work starts with making ourselves your true servants. But if I am only for myself, what am I? We move outwards to our beloved community, state, and country. And finally, if not now, when? The time is now, and we look to You for guidance and strength. May our determination never falter, may our resolve never waiver, even as people of good will face challenges unknown to many of us.

Holy One of Blessing, Creator of all humanity, especially at this season we recognize that You are known to each of us by many different names. You remind us that we Americans have so much more in common than those things that divide us. May our seasonal festivals of redemption and resurrection bring us hope, optimism, renewed and continued strength and vigor, as we speak Your truth to power.


May You bless us now and always, and let us say: Amen.

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