More About Bishop Robinson's Lost Inaugural Prayer | Sojourners

More About Bishop Robinson's Lost Inaugural Prayer

I am thankful that Cathleen Falsani's blog post included the text of the prayer given by Bishop Eugene Robinson at the beginning of the Sunday "We Are One" concert. Even though friends and I arrived at the Lincoln Memorial and stood as close as the crowds and security would allow, we were no different than the millions who tuned in on HBO. We couldn't hear it, either.

When Bishop Robinson stood at the podium to give his remarks 10 minutes before the official start time of 2:30 p.m., there was barely any audio coming from the giant speakers which lined the reflecting pool. We couldn't tell if he was just rehearsing, as many had done throughout the morning and afternoon, or if he was actually praying. The crowd was stirring and began to chant "We Can't Hear!" and "Turn It Up!" We could see his face on screen, but no words accompanied the image. As you can see in the text of the prayer, it was long, and the audio kicked in when he prayed, "And please, God, keep him safe