Recently in prayer and ritual Category

During the last few days, Psalm 109:8, a Bible verse in the form of a "prayer for Obama," has topped the Google trends chart:  "May his days be few; may another take his office."  Evidently, a bumper sticker emblazoned with this verse has popped up in various parts of the country.  It is a sort of right-wing Christian equivalent to the old "01.20.09" stickers looking forward to the end of the Bush era.

It was, most likely, intended as a joke.  But it isn't really very funny.  Especially since the next verse reads, "May his children be orphans, and his wife a widow."  The passage goes on the same way--asking God to pulverize this poor fellow--that he lose all his worldly goods, that his orphans be abandoned, that his father be remembered as a sinner, and finally, that "his memory be cut off from the earth."

Thus, the "Prayer for Obama," does more than anticipate that he leaves office; it entreats God to destroy the president.

Psalm 109 belongs to a special category of the psalms known as "imprecatory" prayers--it is a lament in the form of petition to destroy one's enemies.  It is the personal prayer of an individual, someone who has been dealt an injustice by another--and usually more powerful--person.  The words of Psalm 109 are those of deep agony, the longings of a victim for retribution and justice.  This psalm is considered one of the most difficult of all the psalms--full of violent images of vengeance and death.   Many a biblical critic has struggled with its words--and not a few--including Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant theologians--recommend that it not be used in public worship, much less as a bumper-sticker political slogan.

In his marvelous book, Reflections on the Psalms, C.S. Lewis observed:

In some of the Psalms the spirit of hatred which strikes us in the face is like the heat from a furnace mouth.  In others the same spirit ceases to be frightful only by becoming (to a modern mind) almost comic in its naivety.  Examples can be found all over the Psalter, but perhaps the worst is in 109 (p. 20).

Lewis suspects that it may be best to leave such psalms alone.  But then he says that we must face "facts squarely." 

The hatred is there--festering, gloating, undisguised--and also we should be wicked if we in any way condoned or approved it, or (worse still) used it to justify similar passions in ourselves (p. 22).

Lewis refers to these psalms as horrible, devilish, cruel, hateful, and evil.  He believes that Psalm 109--and the poetry of its kind in the psalter--should point us back to the evil we carry within and teach us each how to behave with goodness, humility, and love. 

According then, to the venerable C.S. Lewis, a "Prayer for Obama" is really a prayer for ourselves to go beyond "festering, gloating, undisguised" hatred.  "If the Divine does not call to make us better, it will make us very much worse," he reminded his readers,  "Of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst."

Hey Christians!  Stop putting a camel hair rope around Halloween on October 31^st, and instead take advantage of what happens on Nov. 1^st - All Saints Day.

It seems like we used to hear more from Christians who decried Halloween as a time to glamorize demons and the devil.   If observed at all, some Christians decided to create their own versions of haunted houses called "Hell Houses"  with the purpose of scaring people into belief by showing regretted abortions, gay people with AIDS, and addicted prostitutes.   In 2009 a more accurate Hell House might be a family that has lost their home to foreclosure, a baby starving for lack of food, or a polluted water supply.  But maybe Hell Houses should just die its ghoulish death in 2009.

I say let kids have fun on Halloween.  I mean, how bad can God be offended with kids dressing up as cowboys, princesses, matadors, hobos and even as ghosts (Charlie Brown anyone?).   The only real sin here is gluttony as kids pack candy into their faces.  But that has its own immediate punishment offered by nature - the stomachache. 

Instead of worrying about Halloween, take advantage of it as the springboard for Nov. 1, which is known as All Saints Day and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).   All those faux scary spirit world reminders of Halloween can be used as a springboard for a conversation about the real 'life beyond life.'   All Saints Day is a great time to talk about what happens when we die, to commune with our loved ones who have died, and celebrate their life and their presence with God in heaven. 

For Latin cultures this generally means going to a cemetery and having a party around the graves of family members.    This might sound spooky for those who have not grown up with the practice, but it isn't experienced that way.   It is a family celebration that reinforces the ties of commitment and love that continue even after the death of a loved one and an encouragement that there will be a similar party for us once we have died.

All Saints Day, like Ash Wednesday, can be a time of reflection on our own mortality.  The line between the living and the dead is very thin and we will all cross it some day. On Ash Wednesday as I impose ashes I say to congregants the powerful words:  "Remember that you are made from dust and to dust you shall return."  But then I add in a whisper just for the individual: "So care for your soul, which is eternal."  

All Saints Day is a celebration of those who cared for their soul by fulfilling Jesus' commandments of Love of God and Love of Neighbor.  It is a reminder of that one true task that Jesus has set before us.    Instead of cordoning yourself off this weekend, embrace this opportunity to reflect on the reality of death and celebrate the Saints who now live in God's eternal embrace. 

Chris Broughton, 28, made national news when he showed up to protest a speech by President Barack Obama in Phoenix, Arizona with an AR-15 automatic rifle slung over his shoulder and a handgun. While Broughton claims that his (apparently legal) actions were not meant to threaten the president, there was more to the story than a single citizen's dubious actions and pronouncements. Local print and television coverage in Phoenix, and bloggers all over the country, have led the way on an interesting and important story of religion and politics that has been almost entirely ignored by the traditional media.
Here is what they missed.

The night before Broughton's fifteen minutes of fame, he attended a fiery Sunday sermon by his pastor, Rev. Steven L. Anderson, at Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. Rev. Anderson, also 28, explained not only "Why I Hate Barack Obama," but also why he and God both want the president dead. "When I go to bed tonight," Broughton's pastor declared, "Steven L. Anderson is going to pray for Barack Obama to die and go to hell." He even goes so far as to claim that:
God appointed [Obama] to destroy this country for the wickedness of the United States of America. God appointed him because that's what our country has turned into. That's who we deserve as a president.

And yet, even though we may deserve Obama, Anderson urges his congregation to pray for the president's death, issuing imprecatory prayers and repeatedly asking God to kill the president. Most dramatically, and in an interesting shift to the passive voice, he said Obama "ought to be aborted" because the president is pro-choice, and therefore a "murderer." Despite all this Anderson has insisted to reporters that he was not calling for vigilante violence. Ditto for Broughton, who told a reporter for the Phoenix New Times: "I don't care how God does it, I'm not going into further detail than that," said Broughton. "It would be better now than later."

"However it happens, I'm going be happy that it happens," he continued. "I'm gonna be a happy man... I would rejoice."

Praying for peace is not as easy as it sounds.  Praying for peace requires two separate but related beliefs.  The first belief is that prayer 'works' and that our meditations and/or petitions to God can affect the material world and can change our individual and collective lives.  The second conviction is that peace is worthy of the effort of prayer, that peace should be a goal for each person, and not to rest on the more realist (cynical) view that war and conflict are inevitable.  

Today is the International Day of Prayer for Peace and it is a day of hope mixed with...desperation.  Prayer becomes most urgent  in moments when we don't know where else to turn both in our personal lives and, as in the case with this day of peace, in our world. I am involved with an organization called Fellowship in Prayer that was founded 60 years as a response to the urgent crisis posed by the atom bomb which held (and still holds) the possibility of destroying all life on the planet.  Fellowship in Prayer called upon people of goodwill, across all religious traditions, 'East and West,' to come together to pray for peace.  For the last sixty years people in Fellowship in Prayer have been praying for peace, and one could say successfully, as the world has so far avoided nuclear destruction.  Yet given the seemingly intractable conflicts that continue around the world, the need for prayer, and those dedicated to prayer, seems  greater today than ever before.  

On this day many groups from across the religious spectrum are praying for Peace. And even if it is not easy, you too should pray for peace today and every day. Praying for Peace means you are making a spiritual statement that yes, what I do with my spiritual practice matters, that my meditations can change myself, but also have the power to change the world.  Or for me, as a Christian, praying for peace is a faith statement that God does hear our prayers in the hour of our deepest need, that God has a hand in this world, that God can change me, and that God can transform the world - and that God wants peace.  

Praying for peace is one of the most faithful acts one can make.  Jesus said, that those who make and pray for peace will be called the Children of God.  Even if it is not easy - pray for peace!

Here is a prayer that I wrote for those working in International Relations and Statecraft.  It was included in the book Prayers for the New Social Awakening.  And below that you will see the original advertisement for the Fellowship in Prayer from 1949. 

A Prayer for Those Working in International Relations and Statecraft

Sovereign Lord,

We pray for the people who are charged with safeguarding our nation as they bridge culture, race and religion to painstakingly negotiate terms of trade and forge alliances of security.  May they view their task as sacred and be filled with hope, creativity and endurance as they develop bonds among nations that are mutually beneficial and will produce lasting peace and respect among all peoples. Lord, help our leaders to look beyond grand palaces and corporate offices to carefully consider the effects that the policies they are creating will have upon the humble homes of the average citizen around the world.  May America be girded by the spirit of cooperation and generosity that recognizes the needs of others alongside our own so that the entire world might enjoy a common wealth of food, drink, shelter, education and recreation

Lord, may America not succumb to the sin of imperial temptation, rather tether us to our religious commitment of servanthood.  May we use our power in concert with the international community so that we might collectively bring in a new era marked by justice and peace.  Let restraint and compassion stay the cruel hand of war that slays the young and leaves societies broken and bloody.  May cool minds prevail in seasons hot with destructive cycles of revenge.  In combating the evils of this day let us not become what we despise.  Rather hold us fast to our conviction that living without intimidation or deprivation is a human right in our own country as well in others.

God of the Universe, may we forsake the hubris of claiming you as our private possession, but rather may you claim us as we work for reconciliation and the common good.   Lord, may none use religion as a rallying call for national militarism, territorial expansion or terror based on dangerous readings of sacred texts. Rather let us recognize the sacred in other human beings from every nation, class, race or religion.  Help us to love both you and our neighbor and thereby fulfilling the great commandment of your Son Jesus Christ, so that through our efforts for peace we might be known as your children. 

May America and the entire world be blessed by your continued providence in our time and for generations in the future.  May Thy kingdom come, thy will be done throughout the earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Fellowship in Prayer's Original New York Times Ad in December 12, 1949