Thoughts & Prayers.

~ Originally published November 6, 2017

"When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. Although you offer me many prayers, I will not listen to you. Your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims." ~ Isaiah 1:15

As a Christian, of course I don't really believe that praying is ever useless but when politicians & other people of influence react to a mass murder by "sending thoughts & prayers", it is an empty & meaningless gesture. They do this as if it absolves them of responsibility. By showing the minimum amount of sympathy they are, in effect, asking the injured to forgive them for their failure to provide real protection. That makes "thoughts & prayers" more obscene than any swear words I unleash in a moment of anger (confession: I can really let the expletives fly).

Maybe there is a God who will listen to their thoughts & prayers... but I don't think so.

Prayer is many things but it is much more than just asking God to do something magical. Prayer is not wish fulfillment. Prayer is not a vending machine. Prayer is not a quick fix.

One aspect of prayer is that it is an attempt by the supplicant to align themselves with the will of God. And that requires action. When Peter asked Christ to send the hungry crowd away so they could all go buy their lunch, Christ said "No, Peter, I want YOU to feed all these people. Then they will know that you love them like I love them." Pope Francis says, "First you pray for the hungry then you feed the hungry, that's how prayer works."

This applies to everything we pray for. If I want God to forgive my sins, I must also be willing to forgive any person who sins against me. And the reason I know that's the way it works is because Christ stuck it right in the middle of the Lord's prayer. And on top of that, he made up a whole parable about it called "the wicked servant".

At the end of our church service, the priest always tells us "Go forth to love & serve the Lord." As a native midwesterner, I interpret this to mean, "When you leave this building don't forget who you are. Don't waste the next 6 days. Make yourself useful."

Listen. The point I'm trying to make is this: if you want to pray for the victims of gun violence then you are creating a moral obligation for yourself. You have to do something practical to help the victims. You have to do something practical to prevent other people from becoming victims. The only way to do this is to finally pass & enforce some laws that, to most people, seem like they should just be common sense.

So if you want to do that, then I think that's great. But if you want to "send your thoughts & prayers" & move on with your life, then I think you should just shut your mouth. You're not helping, so don't even pretend like you care. Consider the words of Saint James, brother of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ:

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."

~ Epistle of James, 2:14-18.

Selah.
Selah.
Selah.