Bishop Gene Robinson delivered the invocation for the Obama inaugural concert called We are One. Bishop Robinson's speech was delivered minutes before HBO began its live broadcast of the concert with featured Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Jack Black, Tom Hanks, Gay Men's Chorus of Washington and many others.

Update: I have added video of Bishop Robinsons's speech. We don't see him in the clip, but the sound is clear.

A PIC source reports that some clips from the Lincoln Memorial event, including Bishop Robinson's prayer, will be played on the Mall prior to the swearing in ceremony. In addition, HBO's Cusson has also confirmed that the cable outlet will include Bishop Robinson's appearance and prayer in its re-broadcast of the event.

A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama

By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire

Opening Inaugural Event

Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC

January 18, 2009

Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me

in pausing for a moment, to ask God¹s blessing upon our nation and our next

president.

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you willŠ

Bless us with tears ­ for a world in which over a billion people exist on

less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and

raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition,

malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger ­ at discrimination, at home and abroad, against

refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and

transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort ­ at the easy, simplistic ³answers² we¹ve preferred

to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the

world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of

the future.

Bless us with patience ­ and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be

³fixed² anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a

human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility ­ open to understanding that our own needs must

always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance ­ replacing it with a genuine

respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in

our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity ­ remembering that every religion¹s

God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human

community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office

of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln¹s reconciling

leadership style, President Kennedy¹s ability to enlist our best efforts,

and Dr. King¹s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain

in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to

make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges

ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his

leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United

States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that

experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of

those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember

that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his

daughters¹ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents,

and we¹re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife

are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep

him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand ­ that he might do the work we

have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling,

and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity,

prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

