Prayer for September 11

I have just been reading in the newspaper about a minister (so-called), Rev. Terry Jones, in Gainesville, Florida, who plans to burn copies of the Quran on September 11. He has been warned by people as high up as General Petraeus, head of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Clinton, and a spokesman for the President of the United States, that this act will only inflame Muslim extremists further, potentially leading to acts of violence against our soldiers, our diplomats, and U.S. citizens everywhere.

How excruciatingly sad that someone can be so blind to the huge, possibly world-changing, negative consequences of his own actions, as well as being blind to how his hateful words actually mirror the hatred of those he condemns. How can anyone have the temerity to destroy the sacred, sacred texts of another faith -- and in the United States, founded on principles such as freedom of religion?

For some reason, this news item disturbed me to an unusual degree. My first thought was actually to grab a flight to Gainesville, and. . . do what? Throw myself on his pile of holy texts and put the flames out with my body? There was such a helpless, yet galvanized, sense. What could I do to stop such a grossly disrespectful, potentially far-reaching -- and monumentally stupid -- act?

At one place in the article, Terry Jones was quoted as saying he was continuing to pray about the situation. Here, then, is the only hope: To pray for this man's change of heart. To pray with rejoicing at the clarity that constantly reigns supreme in the Conscious Light.

Dr. Kenneth G. Mills' poem on the power of prayer came strongly to mind for me. He says:

"Clear the way for the Light to be seen
By you who pray in the realm of dreams.
Take the stand: 'I see the Light'
And thus be held in wondrous might.

Thereupon take the imaged thought
And focus upon the one loved . . or loved not,
And bring to that spot the Power Divine,
Because you are not lost in the thought-filled mind.

That is how the Power works!"
(Poem copyright 1992 by Kenneth G. Mills)

What more fitting tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11 than to pray. . . for insight to come to one stubborn one, and for world peace.