While remembering the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., my country also swore in its 47th President. As all celebrations do, both brought hope and longing. Hope from challenges overcome and longing for challenges to be overcome. They also reveal a host of blessings to be counted or things worthy of gratitude as we aspire and dream.

Here is my prayer for the 2025 MLK-Inauguration Day. Please feel free to share it with the proper acknowledgements.

O Giver of all good things, Who has blessed us with another day, we acknowledge the gift of gratitude in the midst of hope and longing. We are grateful for the dreams fulfilled and the challenges behind us, and we are grateful for the dreams we hold through the challenges around us. Lord, give us eyes to see what is right in our world while seeing its wrongs, and fix our minds on joy that we might think of more than cares. The joy of Christ Your Son, which inspired Your servant Martin Luther King, and is the strength of all Who follow Him and seek to keep His humble Way. In Your holy name we pray. Amen.