Three seminary classmates of mine were always up to no good. Challenging the academic powers-that-be, calling for change, generally shaking things up in the best possible “no good” way. And they’ve kept at it. Though they scattered to different areas of the country, they kept blogging together and even ended up writing a book together. And it’s a world-rocking kind of book, entitled “Never Pray Again: Lift Your Head, Unfold Your Hands, and Get to Work.” http://twofriarsandafool.com/never-pray-again/ Yes, these three pastors really do want you to stop praying.
As a person who struggles to pray *more*, not less, who finds prayer to be a nourishing blessing which I miss out on too often, this book seems counter-intuitive. But the fact is, often prayer can serve as a spiritual shortcut; prayer could be a snack, hiding our hunger for the real solid meal we’ve skipped. Sometimes prayer is the easy way out, and it excuses us from the harder spiritual work.
This weekend I was driving my car and I was busy; I had all the reasons in the world why I couldn’t stop. But I was waiting at a red light, and I saw some people struggling together on the ground, in an alcove outside a building nearby. Questions flashed through my mind – were they attacking or helping? Had someone fallen or been pushed? Were they alive and well? Did they need an ambulance? …or the police? Another car honked their horn and yelled out the window, but then moved on, and the people on the ground didn’t seem to respond – or perhaps I just hadn’t heard their response. The light turned green, and feeling helpless and worried, I said a prayer as I drove away.
Praying gave me a little bit of comfort in that situation, but it seems clear that it was an easy choice. Faced with “stop and assess the situation” versus “do nothing,” I softened my choice of “do nothing” by deciding not to stop, but to pray. If I hadn’t had that option, I wonder, would I have felt more deeply compelled to stop and assess?
This week, if you find yourself praying, perhaps ask if it’s a shortcut. Are you praying instead of taking action? These questions can be deeply unsettling, but worthwhile. And we will get to explore them further this summer, when one of the co-authors, Aric Clark, comes to MPC at Tahoe as our guest speaker.
Every Blessing,
Talitha