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Please feel free to use these prayers for your own use in whatever context you feel they are appropriate.
Invocation
Lord,
Help us to remain true to the self-evident truths so long ago proclaimed but existing from the beginning of time, that we are all created equal, and that we are endowed by You as our common Creator with certain unalienable Rights.
Imbue us with a renewed enthusiasm and respect for these, our mutual rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Cause us to know without doubt that from these rights issue forth genuine responsibilities to work for the common good so that all can truly experience the true fullness of freedom.
We pray the presence of Your Power to be within and among us this evening as we seek to manifest these truths within our individual hearts and within the soul of our nation.
We seek Your guidance as we again pledge our allegiance to the timeless proclamation of individual liberty and our uncompromising independence from any tyranny, foreign or domestic, that would seek to deprive us of any of it.
Steady us in these turbulent times, Lord, so that we will never waiver from our reliance on our faith in Your unyielding love for each of us.
Benediction
We now depart in Your love and with Your peace. But we are no longer the people who earlier gathered; we are now the people who leave to live with renewed passion, filled with infinite power and divine wisdom to be co-creators with You to make all things new.
We leave with deeper commitment to embody the words of the one in whose honor we have gathered this evening:
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in . . .”
By Ken Wallace
Here are seven simple steps you can take to get done what needs to be done – NOW!
1. Organize: Order your time, records and interruptions so that you know what to expect – and from whom.
2. Get it All Together: Gather all necessary information and tools, such as calendar, telephone numbers and to-do lists, in one place. Never put these materials in any other place – ever!
3. Plan: End each day organizing the next day’s appointments and must-do tasks. Nice-to-do tasks should be written at the bottom of your “must-do” list. Do these in the order you’ve written them only after all your “must-dos” have been completed.
4. Prioritize: Set goals and map a strategy to achieve them. List every step to accomplish each goal and then put them in order of importance. Refuse to do the easiest – and the least important – jobs first. In fact, make it a habit to do these at the end of each day.
5. Decide: Do it, delegate it or discard it. For each of your projects, decide how it will be handled and by whom. Write the steps, the timelines, the deadlines and the names of those who will be assigned each task on a planning capture sheet. Do the step at the top of the list (or have it done) immediately.
6. Clear Your Desk: Workspaces littered with notes, files, phone messages, mail, etc. are enticements to procrastinate. You might be able to manage the clutter for a brief period of time; don’t count on it for the long-term, however. Clutter will eventually consume your intentions, cloud your perspective, dampen your enthusiasm and overwhelm even your best-laid plans.
7. Divide and Conquer: When overwhelmed by the enormity of a project, break it down into smaller tasks to get a more reasonable perspective. Deal with only one task at a time. When tempted to wander in your thinking, say to yourself, “Not now!” Then continue your train of thought and action until you can say, “OK, Now!”
Go for it . . . NOW!
Ken
