All Saints Episcopal Church, Hilton Head Island, SC
October 1, 2006
It seems like ages ago, and yet the stark images still rattle
around in the back of my mind. I remember I was so disturbed by what I was
witnessing that I made an appointment with the dean of my seminary, Harvey
Guthrie. Live, on television, for all the world to see and experience, were the
unfolding events of the hostage-taking at the Olympics in Germany. It was a
situation that begged not only for my attention but for some sort of Christian
action to confront such evil intentions. I felt helpless and powerless; what in
the world can you do when you experience such actions that tear at the very
fabric of humanity, human respect for life, and the dignity of humanity? At the
time it seemed bizarre to witness athletes being taken hostage and killed
because they represented a particular nation and faith. "How can this be? What
can I do?" were questions running around in my mind. That fall I had been in
seminary only two months. Somehow, I told myself, I should have the answers, and
yet I was more perplexed and frustrated than clear about my long-distance
response.
Dean Guthrie listened quietly to me. And then, thoughtfully, he said that often
Christians exercise prayer as the last resort, that it becomes the action when
seemingly all else fails. In fact, he continued, many do not perceive prayer as
action as all. Rather, it becomes a rather passive aspect of faith. I wanted to
do something, something so that I could see myself as one of the good
guys. But, interestingly at that moment, prayer was not at the top of my list of
actions.
Imagine praying as if you expect God to hear and respond to your prayer. Imagine
prayer as the first action of a Christian, not a last ditch stand of
hope. Is it hard to conceive that silence is the first language of God and that
it may be a great way to start our prayers in silence. ..silence before the
Lord? Silence.. . our first words to God in prayer.
We are bombarded daily by the events of the world, events which often appear
chaotic, brutal, and self-destructive. We are not immune to that news, but we
can choose to respond with the first action of a Christian...prayer.
It will seem obvious to many who read this article that somehow I should have
known, as a seminary student, that I would have jumped on prayer without needing
to share my concerns with the dean of the school. I missed the obvious. And yet,
is that so unusual? We are an action-oriented people, willing to do what it
takes to address the world around us or the problems in our more personal
worlds. Is prayer at the forefront of your life? Do you see prayer as an
important action that carries with it the power to change and transform? Or is
it something you do only as a last resort?
Prayer is our first action. It leads us to direct involvement in the lives of
people and events that, at first glance, seem too remote from our lives. It is
prayer that moves us out of hopelessness into the power to change.
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