English subtitles for clip: File:President Obama Speaks at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast.webm

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The President:
Thank you very much.

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Thank you.

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Please, please, have a seat.

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Mark, thank you for
that introduction.

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I thought he was going to
talk about my gray hair.

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(laughter)

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It is true that my
daughters are gorgeous.

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(laughter)

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That's because my
wife is gorgeous.

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(laughter and applause)

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And my goal is to
improve my gene pool.

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To Mark and Jeff, thank you for
your wonderful work on behalf of

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this breakfast.

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To all of those who worked
so hard to put this together;

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to the heads of state, members
of Congress, and my Cabinet,

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religious leaders and
distinguished guests.

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To our outstanding speaker.

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To all the faithful who've
journeyed to our capital,

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Michelle and I are truly honored
to be with you this morning.

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Before I begin, I hope people
don't mind me taking a moment of

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personal privilege.

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I want to say a quick word
about a close friend of mine and

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yours, Joshua Dubois.

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Now, some of you
may not know Joshua,

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but Joshua has
been at my side --

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in work and in prayer
-- for years now.

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He is a young reverend,
but wise in years.

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He's worked on my staff.

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He's done an outstanding
job as the head of our

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Faith-Based office.

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Every morning he sends me via
email a daily meditation --

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a snippet of Scripture
for me to reflect on.

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And it has meant
the world to me.

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And despite my pleas, tomorrow
will be his last day in

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the White House.

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So this morning I want to
publicly thank Joshua for all

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that he's done, and I know that
everybody joins me in wishing

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him all the best in
his future endeavors --

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including getting married.

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(applause)

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It says something about us --
as a nation and as a people --

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that every year,
for 61 years now,

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this great prayerful
tradition has endured.

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It says something about
us that every year,

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in times of triumph and in
tragedy, in calm and in crisis,

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we come together, not as
Democrats or Republicans,

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but as brothers and sisters,
and as children of God.

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Every year, in the midst of
all our busy and noisy lives,

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we set aside one morning
to gather as one community,

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united in prayer.

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We do so because we're a nation
ever humbled by our history,

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and we're ever attentive
to our imperfections --

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particularly the imperfections
of our President.

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We come together because
we're a people of faith.

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We know that faith is something
that must be cultivated.

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Faith is not a possession.

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Faith is a process.

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I was struck by the passage that
was read earlier from the Book

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of Hebrews: "Without faith it
is impossible to please God,

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"because anyone who comes to Him
must believe that He exists and

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"He rewards those who
diligently seek Him."

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He rewards those who
diligently seek Him --

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not just for one moment, or
one day, but for every moment,

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and every day.

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As Christians, we place our
faith in the nail-scarred hands

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of Jesus Christ.

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But so many other Americans also
know the close embrace of faith

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-- Muslims and Jews,
Hindus and Sikhs.

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And all Americans -- whether
religious or secular --

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have a deep and abiding
faith in this nation.

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Recently I had occasion to
reflect on the power of faith.

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A few weeks ago, during
the inauguration,

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I was blessed to place my hand
on the Bibles of two great

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Americans, two men whose
faith still echoes today.

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One was the Bible owned by
President Abraham Lincoln,

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and the other, the Bible owned
by Dr. Martin Luther King,

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Jr. As I prepared to
take the sacred oath,

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I thought about these two
men, and I thought of how,

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in times of joy and
pain and uncertainty,

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they turned to their Bibles to
seek the wisdom of God's word --

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and thought of how, for as
long as we've been a nation,

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so many of our leaders, our
Presidents, and our preachers,

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our legislators and our
jurists have done the same.

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Each one faced their
own challenges;

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each one finding in Scripture
their own lessons from the Lord.

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And as I was looking out on the
crowd during the inauguration I

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thought of Dr. King.

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We often think of him standing
tall in front of the endless

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crowds, stirring the nation's
conscience with a bellowing

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voice and a mighty dream.

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But I also thought of
his doubts and his fears,

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for those moments
came as well --

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the lonely moments when he was
left to confront the presence of

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long-festering injustice
and undisguised hate;

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imagined the darkness and the
doubt that must have surrounded

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him when he was in
that Birmingham jail,

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and the anger that surely rose
up in him the night his house

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was bombed with his
wife and child inside,

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and the grief that shook him as
he eulogized those four precious

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girls taken from this Earth as
they gathered in a house of God.

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And I was reminded that, yes,
Dr. King was a man of audacious

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hope and a man of
relentless optimism.

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But he was always -- he was also
a man occasionally brought to

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his knees in fear and in
doubt and in helplessness.

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And in those moments, we know
that he retreated alone to a

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quiet space so he could reflect
and he could pray and he could

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grow his faith.

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And I imagine he turned to
certain verses that we now read.

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I imagine him
reflecting on Isaiah,

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that we wait upon the Lord; that
the Lord shall renew those who

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wait; that they shall mount
up with wings as eagles,

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and they shall run
and not be weary,

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and they shall
walk and not faint.

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We know that in Scripture,
Dr. King found strength;

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in the Bible, he
found conviction.

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In the words of God, he found a
truth about the dignity of man

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that, once realized,
he never relinquished.

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We know Lincoln had
such moments as well.

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To see this country torn apart,
to see his fellow citizens

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waging a ferocious war that
pitted brother against brother,

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family against family -- that
was as heavy a burden as any

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President will
ever have to bear.

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We know Lincoln constantly met
with troops and visited the

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wounded and honored the dead.

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And the toll mounted day
after day, week after week.

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And you can see in the lines
of his face the toll that the

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war cost him.

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But he did not break.

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Even as he buried a beloved
son, he did not break.

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Even as he struggled to overcome
melancholy, despair, grief,

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he did not break.

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And we know that he surely
found solace in Scripture;

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that he could acknowledge
his own doubts,

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that he was humbled in
the face of the Lord.

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And that, I think, allowed
him to become a better leader.

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It's what allowed him in what
may be one of the greatest

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speeches ever written,
in his second Inaugural,

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to describe the Union and the
Confederate soldier alike --

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both reading the same Bible,
both prayed to the same God,

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but "the prayers of both
could not be answered.

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"That of neither has
been answered fully.

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"The Almighty has
His own purposes."

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In Lincoln's eyes, the
power of faith was humbling,

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allowing us to embrace our
limits in knowing God's will.

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And as a consequence, he was
able to see God in those who

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vehemently opposed him.

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Today, the divisions in this
country are, thankfully,

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not as deep or destructive
as when Lincoln led,

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but they are real.

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The differences in how we hope
to move our nation forward are

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less pronounced than when King
marched, but they do exist.

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And as we debate what is
right and what is just,

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what is the surest way to
create a more hopeful --

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for our children -- how we're
going to reduce our deficit,

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what kind of tax plans
we're going to have,

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how we're going to make sure
that every child is getting a

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great education -- and, Doctor,
it is very encouraging to me

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that you turned out so well
by your mom not letting you

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watch TV.

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I'm going to tell my daughters
that when they complain.

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(laughter)

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In the midst of
all these debates,

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we must keep that same humility
that Dr. King and Lincoln and

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Washington and all our great
leaders understood is at the

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core of true leadership.

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In a democracy as big
and as diverse as ours,

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we will encounter every opinion.

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And our task as citizens --
whether we are leaders in

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government or business
or spreading the word --

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is to spend our days with
open hearts and open minds;

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to seek out the truth that
exists in an opposing view and

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to find the common ground that
allows for us as a nation,

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as a people, to take real
and meaningful action.

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And we have to do that humbly,
for no one can know the full and

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encompassing mind of God.

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And we have to do it every day,
not just at a prayer breakfast.

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I have to say this is now our
fifth prayer breakfast and it is

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always just a wonderful event.

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But I do worry sometimes that
as soon as we leave the prayer

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breakfast, everything we've been
talking about the whole time at

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the prayer breakfast
seems to be forgotten --

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on the same day of
the prayer breakfast.

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(laughter)

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I mean, you'd like to think that
the shelf life wasn't so short.

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(laughter)

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But I go back to the Oval Office
and I start watching the cable

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news networks and it's
like we didn't pray.

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(laughter)

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And so my hope is that humility,
that that carries over every

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day, every moment.

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While God may reveal His
plan to us in portions,

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the expanse of His plan
is for God, and God alone,

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to understand.

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"For now we see through a glass,
darkly; but then face to face;

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"now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also

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"I am known."

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Until that moment, until we
know, and are fully known,

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all we can do is live our lives
in a Godly way and assume that

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those we deal with every day,
including those in an opposing

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party, they're groping
their way, doing their best,

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going through the same
struggles we're going through.

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And in that pursuit, we
are blessed with guidance.

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God has told us how He wishes
for us to spend our days.

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His Commandments are
there to be followed.

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Jesus is there to guide us;
the Holy Spirit, to help us.

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Love the Lord God with all your
heart and with all your soul and

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with all your mind.

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Love your neighbor as yourself.

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See in everyone, even in those
with whom you disagree most

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vehemently, the face of God.

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For we are all His children.

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That's what I thought of as I
took the oath of office a few

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weeks ago and touched
those Bibles --

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the comfort that Scripture gave
Lincoln and King and so many

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leaders throughout our history;
the verses they cherished,

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and how those words of God
are there for us as well,

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waiting to be read any
day that we choose.

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I thought about how their faith
gave them the strength to meet

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the challenges of their time,
just as our faith can give us

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the strength to meet
the challenges of ours.

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And most of all, I thought
about their humility,

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and how we don't seem to live
that out the way we should,

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every day, even when we
give lip service to it.

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As President, sometimes I have
to search for the words to

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console the inconsolable.

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Sometimes I search Scripture to
determine how best to balance

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life as a President and as
a husband and as a father.

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I often search for Scripture to
figure out how I can be a better

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man as well as a
better President.

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And I believe that we are
united in these struggles.

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But I also believe that we are
united in the knowledge of a

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redeeming Savior, whose grace is
sufficient for the multitude of

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our sins, and whose
love is never failing.

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And most of all, I know
that all Americans --

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men and women of
different faiths and, yes,

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those of no faith
that they can name --

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are, nevertheless, joined
together in common purpose,

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believing in something that
is bigger than ourselves,

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and the ideals that lie at the
heart of our nation's founding

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-- that as a people
we are bound together.

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And so this morning, let us
summon the common resolve that

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comes from our faith.

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Let us pray to God that we may
be worthy of the many blessings

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He has bestowed upon our nation.

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Let us retain that humility not
just during this hour but for

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every hour.

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And let me suggest that those
of us with the most power and

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influence need to
be the most humble.

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And let us promise
Him and to each other,

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every day as the sun rises over
America that it will rise over a

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people who are striving to
make this a more perfect union.

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Thank you.

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God bless you, and God bless
the United States of America.

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(applause)