Prayer is a tremendous weapon to have in one's spiritual arsenal. It is also an instrument of compassion that can be use to affect healing and increase meaning and joy in living.
An article by Dianne Hales appeared in the "Washington Post Parade" that ended with a prayer by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, author of "Why Bad things Happen to Good People." I will not comment on the article, except for the prayer which I am critical of. Purportedly, Kushner offered a prayer written for the world, with the intention of not offending anyone, be the person a Chriistian, Jew, Muslim, or an adherent of some other faith. Apparently, he wanted to be politically and religiously correct. But he could not have been more politically or religiously incorrect. Kushner did not address his prayer to anyone or anything. Rabbi Kusher refused to use the name God or Allah, or any other name. Unlike the prayers of St. Francis of Asisis, written in the twelfth century that began with "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace," Martin Luther's prayer in in the form of a hymn, written in the fifteenth century, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," and the Psalmist's prayer in the last Psalm that begins with "Praise you the Lord, Praise God," Kushner began his prayer talking about the rain and did not use the name God or address the Creator of the rain. Reading Kurshner's prayer I was reminded of James Baldwin's novel by the titled "Nobody Knows My Name."
Howard Thurman, a mysic and premier theologian, commenting on namelessness says,
"The name marks the claim a man stakes
against the world... The name is a man's
watermark above which the tides can never
rise: It is a strange freedom to be adrift in
the world of men...to go nameless."
How much more of an offense it is for God to go nameless in the world of men! Jesus said "...whoever shall deny me before men, his will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven" (Matt 10:33).
To read my full 500-plus word article on "The Power of Prayer: Praying to God," visit this website: http://uriahfields.com/gpage101.html or click on the illuminated "uriahfields.com" below and on the pop-up menu (near the bottom) click on "The Power of Prayer."
You may want to share this offering with your friends. Thank you.
