Prayers of Connection
I'm sure this week's themes of "Being There for Each Other" and "Moving Forward" were scheduled some time ago, but they certainly came at an appropriate time. I, like many viewers, have been thinking about what I can do for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast. I find it heartening to realize that there are avenues for hands-on help already established in many communities—like the Meals on Wheels program that Cheryl Bettencourt participates in every morning. As I write, I bet Mona Purdy's volunteers at Share Your Soles are busy sorting, cleaning, and shipping shoes to the evacuees. It's a comfort for me here in New York to know about that program and that so many other relief agencies are rising to the many challenges created by this tragedy. God is with them.
Those of us not in the region to volunteer to provide direct aid to the victims can still help. We can open our checkbooks and answer phones for fundraisers. Local newspapers and many websites have lists of ways to help.
FaithStreams has links to the websites of many religious charities.
And we can help by praying. I don't believe we need to ask God to be with the victims; God is already there with them. But we can pray that people who are anxious, ill, and separated from loved ones be aware of God's healing presence.
For me, prayer at a time like this is a way of connecting on a deep level with the victims in the Gulf —the people and also the animals and plants. That's why Margaret Guenther's suggestions about prayer in the "Last Thought" are so helpful. This passage, which we quote in a section on community building in our book
Spiritual Literacy, acknowledges that it's normal to pray for the people closest to us, our families and loved ones. But we do not want to get stuck in that close circle.
Events like Hurricane Katrina encourage us to move out, to broaden the circle of our compassion. When we see an image of a crying child, or a dead body floating in the flood waters, or a pet on the roof of an abandoned house, we can let that specific scene of suffering be an opening to a more universal prayer.
Today I am praying for the people everywhere who are hungry and thirsty right now; for those who are sick right now; for those who are dying right now; for those who are grieving right now. And when I connect through prayer with them, I am also connecting with God and with the most authentic and spiritual part of myself.