At
the interfaith prayer service held in today for the victims of the Boston marathon bombing (including Lu Lingzi, a graduate student at Boston University, where I teach), President Barack Obama was once again called upon to play the pastor - in - chief at a moment of national tragedy.
President Trump had just returned to the White House on Saturday from his final inauguration event, a tranquil
interfaith prayer service, when the flashes of anger began to build.
At
the interfaith prayer services after 9/11 and after the Boston marathon bombings, it was not enough to have a Presbyterian and a Quaker rubbing shoulders with a Congregationalist.