I was born in 1960 – the Supreme Court made school-sponsored prayer illegal in 1962. Do the math – I never had any kind of school prayer forced on me. No Lord’s Prayer or any other religion’s prayer. I don’t remember prayer at graduations, and I don’t remember prayers led by my sports coaches. We didn’t say grace at lunch. No teacher ever said, “Let’s bow our heads and pray for a great day!” So, to be clear – I never had to say a prayer or take a moment of silence in school that was led by or supported by or controlled by a school employee. I hope that is clear now.
Last week, the mayor of New York City complained about not having prayer in the schools; I have heard this whine for my whole life. “Everything went to hell in a handbasket when they took prayer out of the schools!” which was probably followed by “Get off my lawn!” and, “You think you’re so smart, you whippersnapper!” I know I am making a joke out of this because it is a laughable idea. If your argument is that life in America was perfect until that moment on June 25, 1963 (the process actually started in 1948, if you are the kind of person who likes facts), then I invite you to show me how. Show me how God blessed us every day until that moment and then stopped. Show me how women and people of color had the same rights as white men. It isn’t that you don’t want to; it’s because you can’t. It is a lie.
I still prayed in school. I prayed for good grades even though I hadn’t studied (it didn’t happen). I prayed for a better life that afternoon than the one I left in the morning (it didn’t happen). Teachers, I am positive, prayed for me to settle down and fly right and make their lives easier (thanks to ADHD, it didn’t happen). I learned at a very young age that prayer wasn’t a magic trick; just click your heels and say “there’s no place like home” all you want – prayer doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t mean that I stopped praying; quite the opposite. It means that I matured spiritually; I stopped thinking of God as my free gumball machine and started thinking of God as my partner in life who suffered and rejoiced and brought me hope and comfort. Pretty heady stuff for a grade school kid, but necessary for my spiritual health and survival.
The weakening of spirituality in families and religious communities has had nothing to do with not praying in schools. Maybe it has to do with parents shipping their kids off to Sunday school and church without going themselves. Maybe it has to do with simplistic ideas about God and country (Christian Nationalism is nothing new). Maybe it is just how life is; sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. The Apostle Paul had an answer; we will suffer and we will have good times, but no matter what happens, we will be in this together. When one suffers, all suffer; when one rejoices, all rejoice. Maybe shifting faith from community-centered to individual spirituality is why things have gotten worse. I have no idea. And it doesn’t matter. If you want a better world, stop whining and do something good. Not selfish. Not for your religion only. For the common good. We need to get busy because God won’t do it alone.
Prayer – Forgive us God for blaming others for the state of the world when what we really need is You and each other. Help us heal ourselves first. Amen.