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Prayer

Do Pray-Part 2 (Matt. 6:5-15)

During the recent presidential campaign some argued that we should not elect someone who is elite—more highly trained and experienced than most—but should instead elect someone who is ordinary—able to relate to the average man or woman.  One author wrote this:[1] There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn’t seem too intelligent or well educated.  This author argues that we need people in the White House who are elite, who are at the top rung in terms of experience, education, and insight.  Others however, were arguing that that we need people in the White House who are not elite, people who are more like the rest of us.

Read More »Do Pray-Part 2 (Matt. 6:5-15)

Do Pray-Part 2 (Matt. 6:5-15)

During the recent presidential campaign some argued that we should not elect someone who is elite—more highly trained and experienced than most—but should instead elect someone who is ordinary—able to relate to the average man or woman.  One author wrote this:[1] There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn’t seem too intelligent or well educated.  This author argues that we need people in the White House who are elite, who are at the top rung in terms of experience, education, and insight.  Others however, were arguing that that we need people in the White House who are not elite, people who are more like the rest of us.

Read More »Do Pray-Part 2 (Matt. 6:5-15)

Do Pray-Part 1 (Matt. 6:5-15)

Mel Brooks is one of seven entertainers to earn the Tony, the Emmy, the Grammy and the Oscar.  Last year Forbes asked Brooks to describe the “American Dream.”[1] The “American Dream” is the vision that Americans have of life.  It is what they believe life in America is all about.  Here is how Brooks responded: “When I was a little kid 50 years ago, in 1946, I had just got out of the Army after two years fighting in the war. The American Dream was a house and a car.  Today, the American Dream is winning American Idol. It’s changed slightly.  In another 50 years from now, when the economy collapses and everything is in threads and torn, the American Dream then, in 20-whatever, will be a house and a car.”  With tongue-in-cheek, Brooks describes the American dream as the pursuit of possessions or prominence.  Sometimes the American Dream is the pursuit of possessions, like a house and a car.  At other times that dream is the pursuit of prominence, like winning American Idol.  This vision of possessions or prominence is something which many dream about.

Read More »Do Pray-Part 1 (Matt. 6:5-15)