“Beware the false motives of others. Be careful of those who pretend to be brothers. And you never suppose it’s those who are closest to you, to you. They say all the right things to gain their position. Then use your kindness as their ammunition. To shoot you down in the name of ambition, they do… Forgive them father for they know not what they do. Forgive them father for they know not what they do. Why every Indian wanna be the chief?” Lauryn Hill, “Forgive Them Father”, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 1998.

TRUTH. I got an e-mail just before publishing today’s DDR.  It was from a colleague of mine, and in the subject line it read “Please Do Not BUY or WEAR”.  Since it was from my good friend, I opened it and read it. She wrote “Check the scripture for yourself. I did not confirm it, but the friend that sent it is reliable.”  I immediately scrolled down and saw an image of a yellow t-shirt with words that read “Pray for Obama Psalm 109:8”.  Above the wording were praying hands. “Pray for Obama?” I thought. “That’s not a bad thing. So what’s the big deal,” I asked. I immediately grabbed my Bible, and flipped to Psalm 109:8. It read “Let his days be few, And let another take his office.” “Say what” I thought. It was titled as a “Plea for Judgment of False Accusers”.  I read verse 7: “When he is judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin.” “Whaaat?”, I said aloud. Then I read Verse 9: “Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow.” Huh? Is Obama the “he” in these verses? Is “he” the “false accuser”? If I’m reading this correctly, Obama is a fake, and the message of prayer is to pray him “out” of office. Tell me. Why every Indian wanna be the chief?

I do not know who made these shirts, nor have I seen anyone wearing them. Regardless, I feel it is worth posting and passing along just in case they surface in a mall kiosk, at the barber shop, at some community festival, or perhaps it will be a virtual t-shirt and passed along via the Internet.  What I know is that people looovve to wear t-shirts – especially Obama t-shirts – and oftentimes folk – unfortunately people of color – don’t read. They just assume if the verse is out of the Bible then it must be positive.

THE DDR: Forgive them Father because they are ignorant and practice hate and they know not what they do. We most definitely need to pray for Obama.  We need to pray for his protection, and we must also pray for the protection of all our leaders – those we support and those we don’t (Ephesians 6: 11-13) as we step into probably the most lethal election in our country’s history. What side of the coin do you stand on? Please forward this link, post to Facebook, and/or Tweet.