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Reverend James Squire

Thoughts and Prayers




Thoughts and prayers are essential for the well- being of a divided country where shootings have been occurring on a daily basis. Shootings seem to be present in every venue. They occurred in a hospital in Oklahoma, a school in Texas, and a center of night life on South Street in Philadelphia.


However, thoughts and prayers have been uttered enough by people who do not wish to address gun violence to the point that the words have been reduced to a mocking litany that have lost the power of their meaning. That needs to be changed so that they we do not continue to use the phrase as a mantra to avoid change. It is like saying please in front of a request that softens the words of a request and makes the request more acceptable. It changes a request for something we want or desire without offending the person who we are addressing.


My suggestion for future use of the phrase, thoughts and prayers, is based in the words in James 2;17 in the Bible. “Faith without works is dead.” Let me take you back some time when you were a student or better yet, if you are a student now. There are various kinds of evaluations (a fancy word for tests) that we have taken over the years including essays, oral exams particularly in language courses, multiple choice (referred to as multiple guess), true or false tests, projects to be turned in, etc. These kinds of tests, in my opinion, have some wiggle room in them so you can take an “educated guess.” I was always taught that your first answer on a true or false test was usually the right one.


For me, however, there was the dreaded “fill in the blank” test. That blank where you had to insert the right answer was unforgiving. You couldn’t fake it, or use trial and error! You either knew the answer or you didn’t!


We need to make thoughts and prayers thoughtful and not thought less as a response that rolls too easy off our tongue. Years ago, I was taught something that still holds true for my experience today. If you want to know what is most important to a person, ask them what you want them to have you pray for. It is like the ‘fill in the blank” questions I would approach with hesitation. That kind of prayer request and fill in the blank questions nail our feet to the floor of either we did the work in preparation for the test or we didn’t.


So, the next time someone uses the thoughts and prayers phrase to you or better yet if our politicians would adopt a policy that follows up with fill in the blank questions, ask these questions. What should I be thinking about regarding gun violence? What would you like me to pray for to deal with these frequent shootings? What a difference that approach would be to those who are sacrilegious using prayers as a way to avoid action. Prayer is love in action empowered by Him who created us and redeemed us. Don’t use it unless you mean it. Remember that admonition that was handed down to us throughout our lives. “Be careful what you prayer for. You just might get it!”

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