Belief in Prayer

"Prayer is simply a two way conversation between you and God"  -- Billy Graham

I don't pray that much, at least not the stereotypical, kneel by the side of the bed, kneel on the pew in church and light a candle, doing penance as an act of contrition, kind of prayer.  This ship sailed when I stopped going to confession feeling like I had to make stuff up so as not to waste the priest's valuable time. 

 

For those not in the know, an act of contrition is a Catholic prayer that expresses sorrow for sins.  Penance would be the numerous other prayers the good father would tack on depending on the severity of one's fall from grace.  As a kid, you learn quickly how to balance your admissions in order to minimize the time spent on your knees.  I always wondered how long Al Capone spent down there, or if a sizeable donation to the church building fund was a get out of jail free card.

 

Now days, I have conversations with God.  I have come to appreciate God's sense of humor, usually at my expense.  God seemed to be having so much fun messing with me I actually figured God was a woman, because only a woman would have that much fun screwing around with my head.  I have found that since I have been focused on this blog it seems like I have been less the brunt of humor.  I'm not sure if this is due to the nature of the blog and quality of the posts, maybe I'm too focused on the blog to sit on the sacred "Whoopie cushion," or maybe it was all in my head.  Whatever the reason, my conversations with the almighty have been more focused on specific tasks and don't always have to begin with me looking into the heavens and exclaiming, "Again?" "Really?" Or even, "What?  What did I do this time?"  And my neck has stopped hurting from looking up.

My prayers usually don't focus on a desire for a miracle.  I fight my battles and only ask God for the strength to muddle through.  I have learned to only fight those battles I have a possibility of winning, unless there is a lesson to be learned in the losing.  Such was the battle waged last night with the Olympia City Council over feeding the homeless in their parking lots. 

There is an old adage that dad pounded into me, "You can't fight city hall."  The reason for this is pretty straightforward and easy to understand.  If you understand it, you have a better than even chance of getting something for your efforts.  City governments exist for the safety and welfare of their citizens, all of their citizens. To this end they have rules, regulations, and codes that they have to abide by.  If you don't like a code or regulation there are avenues to get it changed, adjusted, or even deleted.  Arguing with the city council is not one of these avenues.  The outcome of this particular confrontation was predictable, and I informed the outreach folks of this, prior to the meeting, along with my recommendations of how to proceed.

Needless to say, as with anything emotional, good sense and logic were also prey to emotional grievance throughout the meeting.  Brow beating the council on the plight of the homeless, of which they were already well aware, did nothing to solve the issue.  Going in with ideas of how to move forward and asking that they let the outreach continue while both parties work through finding common ground toward resolution would have been a better tact.  Everybody wants to look like they have a win.  You never want to confront the 800 pound gorilla without bringing him a banana. 

The city was still willing to discuss alternate locations.  They stated they were not against continuing the good work.  They also stated that the parking changes would go through, regardless of the homeless presentation.  Does this mean tickets, fines, and arrests if they violate the new ordinance?  Hopefully the City is smart enough to assume this will not paint them in a good light with the bleeding heart liberal majority that is Olympia.  I have offered my services as mediator, and/or advisor, to the outreach services if it will assist the in achieving a beneficial outcome for both parties.

The point of this tale is that prayer, in this circumstance, was well served to give strength to those heading into this battle, but was going to do little toward removing legal obstacles in the way of a positive outcome.  Sometimes it's better to surrender and hope you can negotiate an amicable peace, with a reasonable opponent, than to fall on your sword fighting a lost cause.  At least you might be able to continue the good fight.

I did find it interesting, as I heard one of the group comment their prayers seemed to go unanswered, how similar this event was to another historical event.  The leader of the outreach has to deal with the city manager, Pontius Pilate, who investigated the transgression.  The case goes before the mayor and his council, Herod Antipas, who hears the case and determines it must go back to Pilate for disposition.  Meanwhile, I found myself in the back of the room sitting next to the chief of police, the centurion, who waited patiently to see if someone might need to be arrested. 

As I left City Hall for my vehicle I found myself glancing upward, into the night sky, thinking, "Nice lesson."  

 

"Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement.  Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action....Prayer is not asking.  It is a longing of the soul.  It is daily admission of one's weakness.  It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart."

 -- Mahatma Gandhi