Article August 12, 1996 Issue

"Pray for me"

Mary Gadberry Patrick

"Pray for me," cries the stranger peering anxiously into a crowd or a television lens. At the very least we may want to reach out and say to such a one: "It's all right. Be still, and know that God is loving you. Just now it may seem that you've made some mistakes, and maybe there's a lot of working out to be done, but there's hope!"

Then we may be stopped short. How clear are we about the basis for offering such hope?

Uncertainties may cloud the issue, coupled with disapproval of pleas for seemingly unearned clemency. Could it be wrong to hold out a promise of prayer for individuals who apparently have only themselves to blame for being dreadful circumstances? We know from Christ Jesus' ministry that all things can be healed through prayer. So we should be able to find a way to help people that is unaffected by the apparent dilemma of whether to be vengeful or to be "soft on crime."

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