Editorial May 26, 1945 Issue

No Time to Stop Praying

John Randall Dunn

Does not a goodly portion of the human family instinctively reach out to a power outside itself for relief from its pains, its heartaches and tribulations? In olden times we find certain peoples calling on the god Baal to give them a sign; we see the Roman pagan offering incense at the altar of a mythical deity in an hour of distress. At this disturbed moment in history, men and women of a hundred differing faiths, and many who heretofore may have thought of themselves as prayerless, are praying. The prayers are not always formulated in intelligible petitions.

The story is told of a father who absented himself from the family circle when his little child seemed dangerously ill. He was subsequently found in the barn, on his knees, uttering just two words, "Please, please!" Then there is the story of a little fellow reared in a Christian Science household who was asked to pray for his mother, who was in great pain. He closed his eyes for a moment or two, but soon opened them and resumed his play. The mother was instantly relieved. Asked later what he had said in his prayer, the child replied, "Oh, I jes' thought 'God.'" Truly does the hymn say,

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