I N V O C A T I O N
Madge Rutherford Minton
W.A.S.P. Chaplain
1986

For a vision in our youth, Dear Lord
We are much beholden, and with heartfelt respect
we invite Your presence here.
We come to celebrate a score of glorious months
When You blessed us with more courage than caution
and more determined commitment than common sense.

Our vision was to fly, and we hardly considered
That we might fail. Eager and proud; rebellious,
Even arrogant, we defied current mores
And slipped time-hallowed traces.
Our purpose held, and with Your help we achieved
Our hearts’ desire; to serve as pilots in our
Country’s cause; to fly in defense of
Freedom, truth, and human dignity.

Bless, Dear Lord, our comrades untimely dead;
Bless all who fought and all who died
In common cause with us.
We are here to share friendship to revel in past
Glories, and to marvel at our incredible luck.
Years deracinate our fellowship and time
Impedes accuracy;
Dear Lord, forgive us if our memories be gently
enhanced by selective forgetting.

We entertain conjecture of the times when, all alone,
We flew between the sun and citadels of clouds
And watched the shadow of our plane
convoy us on our course --
A dark cross rimmed in fractured light--
A holy wage -- The Pilot’s Cross--
We felt Your Presence than and touched the
Interface between that which may be known
And that which can never be transcended.

You blessed us then; we pray Your blessing now.
Amen