Class Prayer For Class of 1964 50th Reunion
by Darryl Bloodworth
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. We come before you today with grateful hearts because, despite knowing our faults, knowing our shortcomings and knowing our sins, you called us to a life of service to this great nation and the communities in which we live. We thank you for bringing us to the Air Force Academy, for instilling in us a sense of duty, and a commitment to honor and integrity in all we do. Forgive us for the times we have fallen short, and renew in us today our commitment to lives of honor, service and integrity.
We acknowledge, Lord, that it is by your grace that the members of our class have accomplished more thus far than we could have possibly imagined 50 years ago. We are grateful that some of our classmates have distinguished themselves through outstanding service in the Air Force, in business or in other endeavors, but we are equally grateful that all have served faithfully and responded to your call to be servant leaders.
There are two groups of our classmates for whom we are particularly grateful, Lord. The first group consists of those who served as prisoners of war. Through their commitment to defend our country and our freedoms, and through the vagaries of war, they found themselves prisoners in an enemy land, cut off from their loved ones and their comrades in arms, except for those incarcerated with them. They are an example to us for they withstood inhumane conditions, sustained only by their faith in you, and their belief that a grateful nation would never forget them. We thank you that they were able to return with honor, and they stand today as an example to us of persistence and courage in the face of adversity.
The second group of our classmates for whom we give thanks today consists of those who gave the last full measure of devotion by giving their lives in service to our country - service to which you called them, and from which you welcomed them home to be with you. We who remain thank you, Lord, for their service, and for their example to us of what it means to be a servant leader. We pray that you will stir in us the desire and fortitude to live lives worthy of their sacrifice until the last bugle blows for each of us.
As we enter into the remaining years that you may give us, we pray for renewed faith, strength and courage to enable us to finish strong, to give of ourselves to those who follow after us, to persist in service to this blessed country and to our respective communities, and to be faithful to the end to the call to service that you placed on us over 50 years ago.
But it is not only for ourselves that we pray today, O Lord. We lift up to you those who have come after us and those yet to come after us. We pray that the Long Blue Line will always be filled with men and women of integrity, who are committed to service to this great country, and to whom faith, honor, duty and integrity are at the core of their being.
Finally, Lord, we acknowledge before you and each other that we have come this far only through the Grace of God. We ask for a double portion of your grace for our remaining days that we may have the desire, the energy and the persistence to serve you and those you have given us.
We ask all this in the name of your son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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