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> Parsons encourages Obama to put people first

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> Parsons encourages Obama to put people first

Stated clerk says 'economy must be built on achieving good'

> by Jerry L. Van Marter
> Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE - New Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General
Assembly Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons has written to new
U.S. President Barack Obama assuring him that Presbyterians
are praying for him and urging him not to let the current
economic crisis overshadow "the issues of ordinary people."

In his Dec. 1 letter, Parsons told Obama that "offering
encouragement is something that Presbyterians have done to
each of the forty-three Presidents who preceded you."

And Parsons included with his letter a prayer written by
Augustine of Hippo 1,600 years ago, expressing the
assurance of God's presence even in the most difficult of
situations.

> The full text of Parsons letter to Obama:

> December 1, 2008

> Dear President-Elect Obama,

On behalf of the 2.3 million members of the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.), I want to convey our hopes and prayers for
you as the 44th President of the United States of America.

We are approaching Advent in the life of the church - a
season of expectancy and hope as we prepare, once again,
for the new King. As you know, this King did not come in
any of the worldly ways, but as a very vulnerable baby born
to very ordinary people. Even in his birth, Christ was
showing us that the first shall be last and last shall be
first.

As a country, we are in the midst of crises large and
small. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has lifted up
concerns about war, immigration, health care,
globalization, care for the planet, racism, the Middle East
and justice in our courts. Now, it is an economic crisis
that demands our attention. Our hope is that this current
crisis does not become king, consuming us entirely and
overshadowing the issues of ordinary people.

I have been told that every crisis holds a message. In my
humble opinion, the message for this particular crisis is
that our country and its economy cannot be built just on
selling goods or even manufacturing goods. Our country's
economy must be built on achieving good.

We are prepared to help you and your administration achieve
that good. We will add feet, hands, and voices to our
prayers to seek justice for the least of these. We will
seek the Spirit's aid as we learn to sacrifice our own
material wants for a society that makes its royal calling
the well-being of every woman, man and child.

Offering encouragement is something that Presbyterians have
done to each of the forty-three Presidents who preceded
you. Please know always that your faith and spirit are
being supported with the individual and congregational
prayers of the church all across the nation. Your job as
President is lonely, but you are not alone.

I have enclosed a prayer attributed to Augustine of Hippo
over 1600 hundred years ago. May you find comfort and
courage in it as you approach your presidency.

> Yours in Christ,

Gradye Parsons Stated Clerk of the General Assembly

God of life, there are days when the burdens we carry are
heavy on our shoulders and weigh us down, when the road
seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening,
when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are
lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the
path with light, turn our eyes to where the skies are full
of promise; tune our hearts to brave music; give us the
sense of comradeship with heroes and saints of every age;
and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage
the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life,

> to your honor and glory. Amen.

> =======================================