It figures.
The National Day of Prayer was this past Thursday -- and I forgot to pray.
I'm not very skilled at praying. Like a lot of folks, I don't pray until things go sour or I face some daunting challenge.
I pray on Monday mornings when I'm way behind on projects that are due -- and I am behind EVERY Monday.
I pray every April 15 -- right after cursing.
I pray when people I love are ill or worse.
When I was younger, my best prayers followed long nights at the pub - what we call "praying to porcelain."
Plenty of folks struggle with prayer.
It is something people of every religion and culture have felt the need to do since there have been people.
One of the most extensive polls on prayer was conducted by U.S. News & World Report in 2004. Some respondents had wacky ideas about what prayer is about.
One fellow prayed that his broken car would heal itself; he claims it did.
Another fellow prayed that a couple who helped break up his marriage would also break up; he claims his prayers did the trick.
The now-deceased Osama bin Laden had some nutty prayers. He prayed for America's destruction. He prayed, no doubt, before his boys struck the twin towers -- and after the towers fell.
He prayed for the wrong reasons, of course.
If you believe, as I do, that there is order in our conflicted universe -- that there is good and evil, at battle everywhere, every day -- then isn't the purpose of prayer simply to understand and embrace the truth?
We pray to know the good. We pray to align yourself with it. We pray to root out dishonesty and evil from our being.
Surely you agree there is good and evil in this world.
Greek philosophers had names for good: prudence, temperance, courage and justice were virtues that all people longed to master.
As we strive for good, we must fend off evil: excessive pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth.
These are known as the seven deadly sins -- and as activities I usually save for the weekend!
I'll leave it to the Almighty to judge bin Laden for his worldly acts, but to my feeble human mind, it is clear that bin Laden was blinded by the sin of excessive pride.
He had it worked out in his mind that he and his small band had a direct line to God, who told them to slaughter innocent people.
Didn't he see himself as pious and subservient when he was really an egotist and narcissist who misused his religion to drape himself in power and the adulation of millions?
Didn't he misuse prayer -- not to get closer to God, but to justify his own misguided ambitions?
His was such a clever form of evil that the fool thought he was doing good!
These terms sound biblical, but are they really? You need not be religious to agree that there is a battle regularly going on between good and evil.
This battle rages in every human heart. It rages within every religion, every political system -- and on and on.
This battle rages because we humans are mighty flawed and in continual need of improvement.
If you believe there is order in the universe, then mustn't we continually align ourselves with the good and root out the bad in our political systems, our organizations -- ourselves?
We must root out excessive pride and embrace humility. We must be more kind and charitable, less angry. We must be less greedy, more generous.
Honest prayer is helpful in that respect.
I sure pray that I get better at it.
Tom Purcell is a freelance writer and humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at Purcell@caglecartoons.com.
Dale Whiting posted at 1:30 pm on Mon, May 9, 2011.
Tom,
Interesting perspective. Mine is slighly different. Yes, we should pray for understanding, an ability to understand and accept, rather than misunderstand and hate. Bin Laden misunderstood the intentions and perhaps the impact of Western Culture on him and his way of life. He saw moats in our eyes and waged war to rid the world of the evil he saw in us. He did not understand or appreciate the beams blocking his view of us.
How well do we see ourselves? Do we apprecate the good in Islam? Or do we just see bin Laden? Has 9-11 so obscured our vision with a beam that we sought revenge for the lives of 3,000 by throwing another 6,000 of our own in after, with wars in two other nations and casualties numbering in the 100's of thousands. I'd say that we have a pretty big beam in our eyes, wouldn't you?
Prayer can lead us down paths of peace and righteousness or down paths of hate and unrighteousness. And frequent prayer is more motivating than your or my infrequent praryer. Where dedicated Muslims pray 5 ties per day, perhaps we need to pray more frequently, too. The Prince of Peace would ask us to do so.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 2:07 pm on Mon, May 9, 2011.
Truer words from Mr. Tom Purcell were never said.
"If you believe there is order in the universe, then mustn't we continually align ourselves with the good and root out the bad in our political systems, our organizations -- ourselves ???"
Tom, let's pray together that the People of America = align themselves with the "real" American Political Party = the Republicans.
Let's root out the the "bad in our political systems" = the Democrats (Liberals too).
Let's root out the Republicans In Name Only (the R.I.N.O's) like ....John McCain and Jeff Flake and Matt Salmon who have never supported SB 1070 and instead want to give the 20 Million Illegal Aliens from Mexico and Points South = full Amnesty.
But most of all let's pray for our Military Men and Women who are Protecting America both at Home and Abroad.
Dale Whiting posted at 4:23 pm on Mon, May 9, 2011.
Leon,
You missed Tom's point entirely. Let me quote some of his most vital conclusing statements.
"This battle rages in every human heart [including yours Leon. Do you see the rage? You focus it on Republicans and Muslims, but you do not focus on yourself. Look into that mirror for the beam which makes you blind.]. It rages within every religion [Are you Christian Leon? It rages in Christianity] , every political system [democratic and totalitarian] -- and on and on [Republicans and Democrats and Independents]."
"This battle rages because we humans are mighty flawed and in continual need of improvement. [My piece today quotes Paul. We all have sinned. Your comment to my piece demonstrates you failing to "get it."]"
"If you believe there is order in the universe [some sort of Devine control] , then mustn't we continually align ourselves with the good [God] and root out the bad in our political systems, our organizations -- ourselves? [How are you coming Leon, with rooting out the evil in you? Or do the beams in your eyes cause you to only see the motes in the eyes of others?]"
"We must root out excessive pride and embrace humility. We must be more kind and charitable, less angry [Do not mistake my criticism of Neo-cons for anger. It's pitty!] . We must be less greedy, more generous. [Wow, is this a liberal statement or what? Glad to hear you judge Tom's statements as being true!]
Yes, Leon, truer words have never been spoken by Tom. Too bad his words have been totally misconstrued by you! That is what Christ is saying in His Sermon on the Mount. It begins in Matthew 5. Take out your Bible and begin reading! If you do not have one, several versions are available on the internet. No excuses, Brother Leon. Christ is calling you!
sockratties posted at 2:03 pm on Thu, May 12, 2011.
Why look for help from outside when your problems are within?
You suffer from excessive pride (vanity) when you think YOU are speaking for a supreme being. You are merely a man and have no idea how you were created or what your creator may have intended. Vanity comes from within.
Envy is your desire to have what is not yours. It is wishing YOU had what others have. Envy comes from within.
Gluttony is taking more than YOUR share and denying others their share. Gluttony comes from within.
Lust is a hunger for gratification of internal desires that YOU feed by wanting more than you can ever get. Lust comes from within.
Anger is reaction to things being different than YOU want them to be. Anger comes from within.
Greed is a need to acquire more than YOU need and still wanting more. Greed comes from inside.
Sloth is a disregard for YOURSELF and those around you. Sloth comes from inside.
Working to make things better is rewarding and change can improve our lives, but there is no good or evil. Things just are. To want things to be different is to hope. Relying on hope is the source of unhappiness. Looking outside ourselves to make things different is a little like casting a spell. If you believe in the spell, maybe it works for you, but witchcraft, magic and miracles are still a state of mind. Your seven deadly sins represent universal character flaws we all nurture in our reptilian brain stems. We may see them as beasts that must be starved by not allowing them to flourish. To do this we must look inward, not outward, to make the world a better place.
sockratties posted at 2:21 pm on Thu, May 12, 2011.
Dale,
A moat is a water filled ditch around a castle. A mote such as the “mote in God’s eye” is a tiny speck.
People used to think that sight was the affect of “beams” that were transmissions from the eyes giving a kind of tactile feedback. In fact even as late as the 14th century people believed that the black plague could be transmitted by looking at someone. You metaphor is a little silly when applied to a modern time when we know how things work (if we care to).