Peggy Noonan wrote last week that the only thing left is to pray for peace in the Middle East.
Karol Wojtyla during World War II, long before he became Pope John Paul II…helped friends in the Resistance, but he did not join them. Why? Because, as he told a friend, the only resistance that would work was asking God’s help. “The only thing that will be effective is prayer.” So he quietly and constantly prayed, for the liberation of Poland and the end of Nazism and the safety of his jailed and abused Jewish and Christian friends. Prayer is the hardest thing. And no one congratulates you for doing it because no one knows you’re doing it, and if things turn out well they likely won’t thank God in any case. But I have a feeling that the hardest thing is what we all better be doing now, and that it’s not only the best answer but the only one.
Which sounds fine on the face of it — who could possibly be against praying for peace? The Christianity Today weblog points to her column in full endorsement. But what if FDR and General Eisenhower decided to approach things that way? “We were thinking of sending troops, but instead we now believe that praying for the liberation of Europe is a better alternative.” Or President Bush: “We’re holding prayer meetings at the Pentagon instead taking military action against the Taliban.” Noonan’s pitch is more platitudinous than practical.
Praying to God for an end to a war is not much different than praying to God to spare your house from a tornado or a flood. God is not a wizard pulling weather or war levers behind a curtain. But if Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat prayed to God for insight and inspiration and courage to find a way to end the conflict, then that’s a different story. I bet God would perk right up and deliver.
God, however defined, is available to help human beings better handle whatever situations they’re faced with. He’s not into directing events. Personally, I hope to hell Colin Powell is praying like crazy this week. Correctly praying, though.