Receiving the answers we need

This morning I was planning to post a different prayer, but as I sat down to write it occurred to me to look something up in The Green Bible. (I just purchased it this week--if you are interested in the ways in which spirituality and earthcare connect, I highly recommend it.) My attention was drawn to the story of Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream. As the story goes, the king was so troubled by his dreams that he ordered all the magicians and enchanters of the kingdom to be brought to him so they might interpret his dream. No one could. In fury, the king called for the death of all the wise men, but Daniel answered prudently. He asked the official what made the king's decree so urgent, and when the official explained, Daniel went to the king and asked for time, saying that he would be able to give the king the interpretation.

This seems to me particularly relevant for the situation we face today. The problems are so big, the challenges so far-reaching, the effects of such magnitude, that only an answer that requires the best of us all--that arises from within and beyond us--will work. The good news is that Daniel did receive what he sought, as we will. Here is Daniel's prayer of thanks (Daniel 2:19-23), and I offer it as a prayer for President-elect Obama this morning, that he might be reassured that the God who understands all things and stirs hearts and minds afresh will bring the answers needed for this time:

Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Daniel said:

"Blessed be the name of God from age to age,
for wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons,
deposes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him.
To you, O God of my ancestors,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power,
and have now revealed to me what we asked of you,
for you have revealed to us what the king ordered."

Amen and amen.

One note: I respect the fact that some of you reading this post may have mixed reactions to the Bible. I did, too, for many years. My own sense of the Bible today is that it was written by people in a variety of settings for a variety of purposes and that the words within it are not sacred nor to be taken literally as a mandate for any action that is not in accord with love for all beings (especially actions that reject or hurt any of God's children or creation). I think God's spirit of love and wisdom is continually stirring our hearts and bringing clarity and understanding, and when we read, see, or meet people and ideas that touch us, we are being given the opportunity to have "ears that hear" and "eyes that see" spirit at work.