Written by Don Byrd
Following up his visit and remarks to the Islamic Society of Baltimore, President Obama yesterday delivered a powerful message at the National Prayer Breakfast. If you did not have a chance to see it, you can watch it here. Or, you can read the transcript here.
The President reflected on 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Here is an excerpt from the Prayer Breakfast remarks:
For me, and I know for so many of you, faith is the great cure for fear. Jesus is a good cure for fear. God gives believers the power, the love, the sound mind required to conquer any fear. And what more important moment for that faith than right now? What better time than these changing, tumultuous times to have Jesus standing beside us, steadying our minds, cleansing our hearts, pointing us towards what matters. (Applause.)
His love gives us the power to resist fear’s temptations. He gives us the courage to reach out to others across that divide, rather than push people away. He gives us the courage to go against the conventional wisdom and stand up for what’s right, even when it’s not popular. To stand up not just to our enemies but, sometimes, to stand up to our friends. . . .
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We pray for God’s protection for all around the world who are not free to practice their faith, including Christians who are persecuted, or who have been driven from their ancient homelands by unspeakable violence. (Applause.) And just as we call on other countries to respect the rights of religious minorities, we, too, respect the right of every single American to practice their faith freely. (Applause.) For this is what each of us is called on to do: To seek our common humanity in each other. To make sure our politics and our public discourse reflect that same spirit of love and sound mind. To assume the best in each other and not just the worst — and not just at the National Prayer Breakfast. To begin each of our works from the shared belief that all of us want what’s good and right for our country and our future.
In some ways the President’s remarks build on what is becoming the theme of this year: we must overcome religious division by recognizing our common humanity, and by reaching out in interfaith dialogue. It was the theme of his speech at the Islamic Center; it is the theme of the Know Your Neighbor initiative, and of the #ChangeTheStory campaign (which continues through February 11!); and, a welcome counter to the overwhelmingly fear-based narrative surrounding religious difference today.
