SENTINEL WATCH October 20, 2008 Issue

THE PRAYER THAT TRUMPS ECONOMIC POLITICS

CHANNING WALKER

WASHINGTON HAS BEEN scrambling. Can a real and workable solution to the economic crisis move within its reach? As President Bush gathered congressional leaders—including Senators Obama and McCain—to a White House meeting recently to seek that solution, a set of questions hung in the air. In the midst of a hotly contested presidential election, could bipartisanship trump politics? Could political posturing give way to genuine problemsolving? Could partisan bickering be stilled so consensus could actually emerge?

If getting the right answers—and therefore the workable solutions—seems an uncertainty, maybe one should consider another question. Perhaps to many people it's surprising to even ask it at a time such as now. But take a moment to consider this. Does prayer trump politics? Does the prayer in which one turns unreservedly to the Almighty have a way of humbling the biggest egos, stilling the most determined maneuvering, quieting the noisiest grandstanding?

Yes. There is something positive that ordinary people can do. They can do it before consensus is reached and afterward as well. People far from the levers of power in Washington or on Wall Street can take this step. And they can keep taking it as long as needed. They can pray. They can turn unreservedly to the almighty God, who is also the one Mind, the one supreme Knower and source of intelligence. Such prayer not only brings peace of mind to the person praying, it also has a unifying impact. It helps bring sanity and clarity to key discussions taking place, even if those discussions occur far from the person praying. That can happen because even if you are thousands of miles from meetings in Washington, the God you are praying to is not. He is both present with you, and present with those in decision-making positions.