Credit: Liberty Counsel

My name is Adam, and I am a liberal Christian.

Yes, we really do exist.

And I just found out that there are people praying for me and all of the other Liberals. Well, maybe not for me, exactly - I’m not high enough on the radar and I yield absolutely zero political clout. But if I did, I’m positive I’d be on the prayer list.

The following comes from David Waters’s Under God blog at The Washington Post:

A conservative Christian organization affiliated with Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University has decided to take a less partisan and more prayerful approach to the “radically liberal” age of Obama. The Liberty Council [sic], a nonprofit that defends religious liberties, is encouraging its supporters to “Adopt a Liberal” and “pray earnestly and intensely for them.”

Adopt a liberal, huh? Am I the only one who finds that just a tad condescending?

Looking at the Adopt a Liberal page…

http://farm4.static.flickr.com

There is great power in prayer. It can change the hearts of people. Over time it can bring monumental changes in society. Two events in recent history testify to this enormous power of prayer. The prayers of Mahatma Gandhi to rid the Indian subcontinent of the scourge of colonialism were answered. So were the prayers of Nelson Mandela to bring a peaceful end to Apartheid in South Africa. So we don’t have to even look very far back in history to realize the powerful effect of prayer. It may take time, half a generation or a bit more, but prayer can bring change. Not so with abortion in this country.

One important thing is the prayers have to be sincere and the person’s life should reflect the change they are seeking. Gandhi ji said: “Be the revolution you seek to see in the world”. That is, start practicing what you are…

A friend of mine sent me a link to an article about the Archbishop of Canterbury, with the assurance that it is not a story from the satirical news source The Onion.  The headline reads: “Archbishop calls for more praying in churches.”

I had to laugh, and to give thanks to God yet again for the good (reverend) doctor.  More than just about any contemporary theologian I can think of, Rowan Williams understands what it is that ails Christianity today.  Better yet, he understands that the cure is nothing new, nothing fancy, nothing that costs money.  The cure is the tradition itself: prayer, study, worship.  The cure is to focus on our own spiritual health, and as part of that focus to start engaging in the disciplines our faith requires, disciplines that inevitably lead us to seeing the face of God in our neighbor.

It’s simple stuff, but simple stuff that is…

From the lds newsroom:

SALT LAKE CITY 16 January 2009 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be represented at inaugural events for President-elect Barack Obama by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Continued

The two leaders, who have been asked to represent the Church by Church President Thomas S. Monson, are scheduled to attend the swearing-in ceremony on January 20 and the National Prayer Service at Washington’s National Cathedral on January 21.

“It is always an honor for the Church to be represented at the inauguration of a new president,” said President Monson. “We send our best wishes to President-elect Obama and pray for the blessings of a loving Father in Heaven to be upon him and his administration.”

From the Jackson Hole Star Tribune:

CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Department of Corrections says it will allow Muslim inmates at the state penitentiary in Rawlins to time their meals to accommodate their daily prayers.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit earlier this year on behalf of two Muslim inmates. The lawsuit challenged a prison rule requiring inmates to eat their meals within 20 minutes after delivery, saying the policy forced them to choose between eating meals and praying.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer approved an agreement on Wednesday that allows prisoners receiving religious meals to keep their meals in their cells until the next meal is served. It also requires the prison to install a new microwave for inmates that won’t be used for pork, which is forbidden to Muslims and members of some other religions.

Stephen Pevar, a lawyer with the ACLU in Connecticut, said Thursday that he credits prison officials…

Photo of early voter courtesy of AP

I woke up this morning, got my kids off to school, and then did the single most important thing I would do all day.

I went to church and led Morning Prayer with a small handful of other parishioners.

After that, I voted.

Our little group that gathers for Morning Prayer every Tuesday had discussed canceling the service today because it fell on Election Day morning. We’re all politically aware enough so that we were planning to vote, and many of us have other daily obligations. We’d heard all the stories predicting unusually long lines and waits. In the end, we chose to hold the service, and not to worry about how many people might turn up.

Interestingly, my precinct’s polling place is in a church auditorium. Someone had placed a sign near the line of waiting voters that read (I’m quoting from memory so this might not…

The following prayer was part of a story from the Anglican Communion News Service sent to me by a friend. It can be found online at on the Prayers for Today section of the Church of England’s website and has been viewed more than 8000 times since it was published in September.

Lord God, we live in disturbing days:
across the world,
prices rise,
debts increase,
banks collapse,
jobs are taken away,
and fragile security is under threat.
Loving God, meet us in our fear and hear our prayer:
be a tower of strength amidst the shifting sands,
and a light in the darkness;
help us receive your gift of peace,
and fix our hearts where true joys are to be found,
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The ANS article also includes the following figures:

Web users looking for support during the current financial situation have boosted traffic to a Church of England website section focusing on debt advice by over 70 per cent, and increased…

I have a nice little plaque with the famous “Serenity Prayer” on it.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

I’ve always liked the prayer, its beautiful simplicity, its deep meanings packed into a few dense words.

And it has always seemed less Hallmark-y to me to know it was written by renowned 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.

Not so fast. The New York Times reports that his authorship of the “Serenity Prayer” is being called into question.

It is a fun little controversy that I think reflects more on the notion of authorship in western culture than either Professor Niebuhr or the prayer itself. Western literary culture is so dominated by the Romantic idea of a solitary, original “author” as being the only “true” source of a text that it becomes increasingly difficult for people to conceive…

“How can you pray for someone you don’t know?”

The question was asked candidly, without rancor, and with genuine interest. The person asking the question was seriously ill and I was the chaplain assigned to the floor of the hospital where she was being treated. I had not even offered prayer; I had simply introduced myself and explained that I was a chaplain. Her question brought me up short.

The recent Pew religion poll found that more than half of all Americans report praying regularly. The number is impressive, but it leaves me wanting to know so much more. I wonder what and for whom people pray, what they even mean by prayer, what they understand to be happening when they pray, how it feels to them. Religion in America is a little like sex: media portrayals of other people’s spiritual practices can seem calculated to shock or offend (preachers damning our country from…