What Did the Ancients Do in Times of Crisis?

Children of Israel complained to Moses that they were dying from "wretched food" and lack of water during their escape from Egypt. A doctor, asked on the "Today" show March 31, 2020, how she was able to come into the hospital to face a long strenuous shift every day said, "I pray."

     Besides praying to a god in general, Saints Jude and Rita, known as patrons of the impossible, are a special option. Of course, God may respond, you got your answer, the answer is "No" or "Not now." Those also are familiar responses from a "Magic 8 Ball" and the conch shell SpongeBob and Squidward consult.

     Prayer is a request. Sometimes we don't like the answer. There's always a chance we might be asking for the wrong thing, for something that will be provided later, or for some need we can satisfy ourselves or by asking someone on Earth.

     Prayer can require persistence. Those who recognize St. Augustine as a 4th century Catholic bishop and renowned scholar, known as a doctor of the church, may not know his mother, St. Monica, spent at least 17 years praying for his conversion.

     A few times, the Virgin Mary, known as the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has appeared on Earth pleading for prayer and penance to prevent suffering. At Fatima, Portugal, in 1917,  she came to three children and told them World War I would end but another world war would follow if atheistic Communism and the persecution of Christians continued. She asked that Russia be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, just as the United States is. As evidence of her appearance and message, a sign occurred. The sun dropped and nearly touched the Earth where about 70,000 people assembled in and near a small Portuguese grotto on October 13, 1917. "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima," a 1952 feature film dramatizing the entire 1917 experience, is still available.

     Russia has not been consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Russia and the United States have been enemies ever since the end of World War II. President Ronald Reagan branded the godless totalitarian Soviet regime a threat to "freedom for all mankind." To illustrate Communism's misguided notions, President Reagan, according to Dr. Richard Brookhiser's new book, GIVE ME LIBERTY, used to quote WITNESS, the memoir by Whitaker Chambers, a U.S. journalist and Soviet spy who looked at his baby daughter's intricately formed ear and began to doubt chance caused atoms to come together to create everything in nature.

     For those who recognize God, prayer need not be long or complex. Just ask, "Please help us."

The Strategy of Prayer

When I heard that a Muslim from Yemen set his computer to remind him to pray five times a day, I thought of Jean-Francois Millet's famous painting, The Angelus. The work of this 19th century French artist pictures a man and woman who stop work on their farm when bells call them to pray at noon, one of the three times in the day the Angelus prayer is said. Was their prayer a petition for a good potato yield, gratitude for their harvest, adoration, or repentance?

     In 2016's Christian Holy Week, when terrorists tore up lives in a Brussels airport and rail station, we were reminded to pray for peace among neighbors, religions, and countries.

     At Christmas, we recognize that God didn't just get the universe started by creating something out of nothing and then forget about us. He came to Earth and experienced our joys and sorrows. And after He rose from the dead, He said the Holy Spirit would come to guide mankind into all truth.

     When we lived in Philadelphia, my daughter attended her early grades at Friends Select, where the headmaster of the school founded by Quakers was Jewish. Every week, all the students walked a few blocks to a 100-year-old Friends meeting house. There, they sat in silence until the Holy Spirit moved some or none to speak. In this holy season, the wisdom to bring peace may be but a moment of silent prayer away.

     The God much greater than ourselves, who has no beginning or end (a concept we cannot begin to understand), is at our beck and call. We don't need to set our computers to remind us when to pray. Whether we are young or old, farmer or tycoon, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Shinto, Sikh, or Zoroaster, we can pray anytime. And in our silence, we'll receive wisdom.