Invocation for Centreville Day 2026
10/17/2026
By The Rev. Kevin Laskowski
If you’re especially religious, I hope this is enough. If you’re not especially religious, don’t let the clothes fool you, neither am I.
Holy One, we give you thanks that this is not the promised land.
For we have come, over a way that with tears has been watered.
For we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered.
We give you thanks that this is not the promised land.
We are grateful, instead, that this is a land of promise:
The promise of life, liberty, and dignity that no tyrant can take from us
The promise of real opportunity and a true share in the good life
The promise of peace, justice, and joy to all who seek it
The promise of solidarity that we renew each day of our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor
We thank you for the wonderful community of Centreville we see and celebrate today, and for the continuing celebration today of our country’s 250th anniversary.
It is not the promised land, but it is a land of promise.
May we keep this promise
May we sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
May we sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Until alabaster cities do indeed gleam undimmed by human tears.
Amen.
