Strangers Praying

Yesterday evening I participated in an Interfaith Zoom meeting publicized simply as “Prayers for Ukraine.” This was a prayer meeting – no more and no less. Led by one of the leaders in our Calgary Interfaith Council, we were welcomed with a short statement of occasion and procedure and away we went. Several representatives of the various faith communities offered prayers and then ‘open mike.’ Anyone who offered via Chat was availed the opportunity to pray in poem, chant, song, or plain old eyes closed and hands clasped. Having had a bit of lead time to fuss about how Muslims, Hindus, various woke and/or evangelical Christians including Indigenous might pray together, I think I had some apprehension about whom might we pray to. 😉

Whom might we pray to? No problem. When we gathered to pray, we prayed to the One we pray to.  And so in unadorned sequence I heard: a land acknowledgement and from within the cleansing smudge a prayer in the name of Jesus by an Indigenous Christian minister; a Spirit tuning (Sikhism) directs prayers to the one God; Muslims “In the Name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful”; Mormons extemporaneous simple prayers to God the Father with the King James English sound; Baha’i to the promised One of all religions; and of course within Christianity its mix of Evangelicals and Ecumenicists including Unitarians and Trinitarians all taking turns. Even as I seek a descriptive phrase for each of the above, I realize I may not be totally accurate. This paragraph is but descriptive of this evening, which included all of these and more!

Even from my limited knowledge of all these – and most certainly from my Christian vantage available through Jesus – I know that prayer is more important than a theology of prayer.  Jesus himself said, 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 .... And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words (Matthew 6:6-7). The amazing thing to me on this occasion was minimal doctrinal precision and instead a great togetherness. I perceived a peaceful Presence and a total respect of one another gathered in our common concern – a concern beyond the solution of any one of our faith tradition(s).

Seems to me this is the least we can do – and perhaps the most. There are many opportunities to help victims of these recent outrageous attacks on Ukraine - via my faith tradition (Mennonite Central Committee) as well as other charities and countless humanitarian organizations. Also there are those with strategic ideas on how to stop the Russian madman!! Neither relief collections nor military  counterattacks will do the job. Hear Jesus also on this, But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matt.5:44).

Within last night’s prayers, even from this wide range of pray-ers, I heard adoration, confession, petition, and supplication. And when it was over, it was over. There was no proselytizing, no sermon about endtimes or apocalypticism or…  Thank you Lord for hearing the prayers of this gathered assembly.

“For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”