Article June 10, 1991 Issue

"I felt the crew should hear these words"

Joseph G. Heard

A former Navy chaplain, now a Christian Science practitioner, learned of the loss of several crew members of the USS Saratoga, an aircraft carrier in the Middle East.

He was moved to compose a prayer and forwarded it to the skipper. The captain shared it with the ship's chaplain, who wrote back to the author: "I read your prayer and I felt the entire crew should hear these words. Therefore, on 4 February 1991 I offered the prayer over the [public address system] at evening prayer time. It was well received. ... Thanks for your prayers, and I ask that you continue to pray for ... all of us on board."

We thought that Sentinel readers might also like to "hear" the prayer. As so often happens in prayer for those far from home in time of need, this prayer takes on the cadences of long-familiar Bible passages and hymns—the timeless assurances of God's nearness and omnipotence, His love and protecting.

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