Skipping Lunch

It's a cold rainy day. We just had a weather alert on the radio for , get this SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS and potential for TORNADOES! No lie, my friends in Texas. Check the weather channel! SO I'm cleaning up some pieces that have been sitting around. This is one. It's dicey territory, so I've been thinking on it a while.

In our quiet little hamlet, there's a tempest in a teapot that's been boiling for some time. I got wind of it when I saw some letters to the editor in the local paper (not in the online version), and have been watching comments on a local blog. Things got a little revved up around the holidays, and there was another round of letters in this week's paper. It's also a big issue up the road in the little town of Lyle and has some folks sitting with pretty twisted panties. The issue? Secular prayer at a weekly lunch held at the senior center. Background on the senior center: The $5 million Pioneer Center, less than 2 years old, is a 25,000 square foot lodge design, a little less than half of it designated for the senior center. The rest is occupied by county offices. It was funded by a federal block grant and landfill funds ($500K each), a $2.5 million bond issue, and cash from the county. So you can see where I'm going with this.

Seems there is a vocal contingent of Super Deluxe Brand Christians who feel the overpowering need to pray very loudly in the name of Jesus Christ before the senior lunch. Now, if you define public as in out in the open, well, heck, you can pray all you want. You are, after all, FREE to pray and FREE to practice your religion of choice. I'd say as loudly as you want in your home or place of worship. In public, you really should have some respect for your fellow citizen and maybe tone it down a bit, or better yet, do it silently. Just my opinion.

But if you define public as in something supported by government funds, then you really ought to tie a little string on your finger to remind yourself that you live in a diverse society where not everyone shares your particular brand of religion, and that the funds that help build the facility and keep the cost of your lunch so low come from that diverse society. The 'if you don't like it, don't come' attitude is just not acceptable. Even if only one senior stays away because he or she doesn't feel welcome, it's time to take a good look in the mirror and ask WWJD.

I totally respect people's right to their religion. But I have always felt that religion was a private thing. I'm old enough to remember having prayer in schools. Every day, after the pledge, the class would recite the Lord's Prayer. In those days there was the Protestant version and the Catholic version. We Catholics were supposed to stop our recitation when the Protestants continued with 'For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever" because that wasn't in the Catholic version. Ironically, the Catholics added it in later. I remember feeling really awkward and excluded, shutting up till I could rejoin at AMEN and totally relieved when the courts decided we should pray in silence in public school. My first exposure to evangelical religion came while living in the South the past 10 years. I had no idea people publicly prayed at PTA meetings, football games, swim meets, awards assemblies, etc. I felt like I was in a time warp.

I was taught that prayer was a conversation with God. It need not be spoken, because God knows your thoughts. So who are these people trying to impress? If they want to pray before their meal, they may. But feeling they have the right in a public venue to lead the entire roomful of people in rote Christian prayer with a microphone means it's not just about the prayer. Especially after being told by and attorney to please pray quietly during a moment of silence at their tables. Prayers aren't for show. My twisted Yankee brain thought I'd escape all this stuff once I got back up north. How naive and ignorant of me. This is a widespread people problem, not a regional one. Let me rephrase: I thought I'd escaped all this kind of behavior once I got out of JUNIOR HIGH. I have to say, I'm really tired of people who use religion to divide, and whose concept of community ends with their place of worship. Now there are letters flying back and forth, threats of suits…Come on, people. Play nice! Be inclusive. It's what Jesus would do.

The other night we finally went to a movie. We saw Charlie Wilson's War at a wonderful little theater that serves pizza and local brews while you watch. We got there early and snagged a cushy sofa with a table to put our goodies on. The reason I bring this up is that one scene in the film reminded me of how much energy gets wasted over such drama. A constituent came in to see Sen. Wilson. His burning issue? He was told he couldn't put a crèche in front of the fire house in Lufkin TX during the holidays. He was incensed. Charlie told him, in straightforward East Texas fashion, that there were several perfectly good churches within a block of the fire house. Move it there and everyone will be happy. Problem solved. Anything else?

For anyone who reads this and gets ticked at me, I'll leave you with Matthew 6:5-6. ”And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”