There is a lot of controversy today about prayer in public places such as schools and at other events. There are many people who focus on the rulings made by courts as they interpret the “Separation of Church and State” issues.
For many years we exercised the freedom to express our religious belief such as prayer each day in our schools. We have prayed at sporting events and graduations. This has been seen by many as the right thing to do. Rulings that prevent prayer in building that have used public funds have been subjected to severe limitations on prayer.
The rulings have changed the way we do things today. As the result, we have people claiming that the fact that we are facing problems ranging from crime to the way we treat people we encounter in our daily lives has been blamed on the removal of prayer from our schools, from the start of sporting events and governmental meetings.
While there is more crime presented to us each day on the news. Much of it comes from our local community, but a lot of it comes from the broader community that is our state, our nation and our entire world. We see all serious wrecks, we see every misdeed committed and we see people misbehaving in everyday activities from the people on the street to those in the boardrooms and governmental buildings.
The lack of prayer is blamed for any and all misdeeds that we find anywhere. We see parents misbehaving at sporting events where their children are participating. Places where they actually should be on their best behavior and showing the benefits of good sportsmanship. We see people acting badly to every perceived indiscretion that they encounter in their lives.
Much of this is possible because of the ability to video almost any and all events because of the use of smart phones, tablets and even clandestine devices to record everything that we or anyone else does.
We are exposed to seeing people resort to physical violence for seemingly innocent acts that in the past could have been resolved with a simple “excuse me”. We almost get joy from seeing the “beat down” of people every day.
We have parents that encourage their children who are students to retaliate against fellow students. We are exposed to these events because everyone has the ability to record them.
We see girls behaving badly and in some cases enjoying celebrity status. We see parents taking out their aggression and anger on students and the parents of students with regularity.
With the availability and access to the internet, we can search for these great “beat down” videos. No wonder we come to the conclusion that the world is indeed headed to hell in a hand basket.
We live in a world where we are encouraging people to take justice into their own hands and arm themselves. We celebrate the taking of lives in the name of standing your ground, thereby avoiding the need to act civilized, or take any step what so ever to ameliorate the situation that one finds themselves in. There is absolutely no need to take any step to avoid situations that only a few years ago would be defused by taking a single step to the side.
We are moving towards situations where it is possible to lawfully take firearms into drinking establishments, where we show the greatest judgment possible? It is amazing that the people passing these laws still prevent guns from being brought into the buildings where they are passing these laws, isn’t it?
The blame frequently goes to the fact that we can’t pray in public. I don’t think so. This seems to be like the Pharisees in the bible who were so involved in the motions that they wanted to be seen in public praying and considered this to be holy. They lost sight that prayer comes from the heart. They lost sight of the fact that prayer is not a show, but an expression of passion, faith and belief, founded in love.
Anyone can stand in front of others and pray with the appearance of sincerity, yet have larceny in their heart. Prayer comes from within, not from an external show. A prayer that does not come from the heart is worthless.
If the prayer comes from the heart, there is no need for the public show. If you have the prayer in your heart, you act in a righteous way. You do not blame your or the behavior of others on the lack of a show. There is no way that any man can stop me from praying. I pray every day and I can do it anywhere I am and at any time.
The problem is not that there is no prayer in the school. The problem is not that there is no prayer at the sporting event. The problem is not that there is no prayer at the start of governmental meetings. The problem is not that there is no prayer in the board rooms of our corporations.
The problem, ladies and gentlemen is that there is no prayer in the hearts of the people blaming the problem on the lack of pubic prayer.
If the people blaming the problem on the lack of public prayer would take the sincerity that they have and practice it in everything that they do, there would be no problem.
Prayer and other core values must be taught in the home. We also do this in our homes and in our churches, synagogues, mosques and places of worship and learning that are a central part of our lives.
Let us all take our prayer personally and carry it with us everywhere we go and exercise it in all of our actions. That is what it takes to make the world a better place.