PeaceBang
The manic mind of the minister -- Auntie Mame Meets Cotton Mather. Blogging about Unitarian Universalism, UU Christian spiritual practice, occasional cultural and political ravings, and the inner life of ministry. PeaceBang is the alter ego of a small town pastor serving an historic New England Unitarian Universalist congregation.
Private Prayers Made Public
July 25, 2008 on 9:03 pm | In Cultural Commentary, Theological Reflection |Barack Obama visited the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem a few days ago, and like millions of faithful have done before him, inserted a prayer within its crannies. Some schmuck fished the note out of its hole and made its contents public.
Yes, I provided a link, which makes me part of the violation of Senator Obama’s privacy. But I figured I’d save you Encyclopedia Browns out there the trouble of looking it up on your own. Because who doesn’t want to know what Obama is praying for? The media, in picking up this story, is apparently counting on the answer to that question being “no one!”
Do we have a right as citizens to know to Whom or for what our leaders are praying? Or do we merely want to know because we think having this information gives us special insight into the character of the one praying? If the contents of your own prayers were made public, would that make you fit or unfit for office, in your own opinion? As far as my own prayers go, I think it depends. If the voting public appreciates a leader who is extremely self-critical, not very often at peace with herself, and often prays to be delivered from lifelong habits of mind and personality in order to better serve God/Wisdom/Truth/Beauty, a peek inside my mind or my journal wouldn’t much harm a run for office. But if the people want a leader who prays primarily to maintain a serenity that is naturally theirs, or who prays for victory, certainty (a la “The Decider”) or special favors for herself or her nation, I’d not be their gal.
I admit to being very touched by Barack Obama’s prayer, and especially to note that his first line invokes God’s protection of himself and family.
However, it’s worth asking: do we think that Barack Obama is so naive as to have not considered that his words might not be stolen out of the wall? I honestly don’t know. Certainly such a thing is an outrage against Jewish tradition, but times have changed and the stakes in the American presidency are extraordinarily high for Israelis (and in fact the entire Middle East). Obama seems to be very well-acquainted with human nature by now, and I imagine that his innate politician’s good sense would prevent him from penning a prayer that was controversial, overly-fervent or in any way cryptic. His prayer is lovely, generic (no phrases in there that wouldn’t be intimately familiar with any service-attending Christian or Jew) and ultimately private. Whether it was written as the sincere petition of his heart or after some political reflection and consideration we’ll never know.
Which serves us right.
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As an Atheist it deeply saddens me that religiosityhas become a requirement for office. That said, it’s hard to tell whether those who merely pretend to be men and women of god do more damage while in truth their only god is Machiavelli, or the delusional bible, torah or qu’ran thumpers.
As for this particular prayer: the notion of anyone hoping of being an “instrument of god’s will” is extremely foreign to me.
How would we know if god’s will was in play?
What if he is assassinated by a someone who is convinced of being an instrument of god (maybe even the supposedly same god). There’s a reason why his prayer hopes for his family’s and his own protection first.
And by the way, that schmuck was a rabbinical student.
Halləluya.
Comment by Martin Voelker — July 25, 2008 #
I think it is pretty safe to assume that such a smart guy as Obama considered that his prayer might be fished out. You don’t get so far politically without thinking ahead about such things (IMHO).
Comment by Elizabeth — July 25, 2008 #
Public. Which is not to say it is insincere.
Comment by Unitalian — July 26, 2008 #
I’m with Elizabeth. Obama had to know that someone would fish it out.
Stephen Colbert even had a bit about fishing the prayer out of the wall on Thursday.
According to Stephen this is what the prayer said:
“Dear God, Please protect my nuts from Jesse Jackson”
Stephen then made a note to put the prayer back in the wall.
Comment by revtoots — July 26, 2008 #
Love, by its very nature, is unworldly, and it is for this reason that it is not only apolitical but anti-political, perhaps the most powerful of all anti-political human forces.HannahArendtHannah Arendt, German political theorist, 1906 - 1975, from The Human Condition
Comment by Islamic Jihad — July 26, 2008 #
Obama had to have known that his prayer might be seen or even published. I suspect that the wording was deliberately general.
Comment by blue — July 26, 2008 #
Agreed. Obama had to know that the note could/probably would be retrieved and distributed to the rest of the world. So does this make the note a political statement or a genuine prayer? Or both?
I just hope this isn’t an attempt by Obama to try to build on Bush II’s attempts to mingle church and state more closely together.
Comment by Jim B. — July 27, 2008 #
I think it was written with the public in mind, but that does not make it less sincere. And it was rather endearing to see it “written by his own hand” (a la St Paul writing to Timothy, even though it probably wasn’t Paul).
I could not help thinking of the prayer of St. Francis, though: “Make me a means of Your peace.”
Comment by Theodora — July 28, 2008 #
Pope John Paul II visited Jerusalem and the Western Wall a few years ago. His prayer is available on the internet now. Although I couldn’t recall the details of the prayer itself, I was pretty sure that that the paper had been removed to Yad Vashem.
So, a little googling later (”google” ought to be a unit of time, don’t you think?), I found that the text of the prayer is readily available.
The first place I found the text was at an Israeli government site. The second, Brown University’s web site.
In their introduction to it, Brown University’s web site notes that “During his visit to the Western Wall, John Paul II observed the custom of inserting a short prayer into a nook in the wall. This is the text of that signed and stamped prayer, which has been preserved at Yad Vashem.” (The text is then presented.)
I suspect that His Holiness knew that his prayer would become part of history. I’m not so sure about Senator Obama.
Comment by Allison — July 29, 2008 #