Sunday Prayer

Engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the lower level of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty is a poem called "The New Colossus", written by Emma Lazarus in 1883.

Liberty Enlightening the World is a symbol of the great city, and of our country. I think of it when I imagine America, and American Exceptionalism. I think of the meaning and importance of the statue - to comfort and inspire those who feel lost, suffering, and isolated - is relevant to our news cycle and our election cycle.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!