I hardly know what to say about the news that Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia (and is that a great name for a Georgia governor or what) led a group of his state's prayerful in a prayer for rain the other day in Atlanta.
Do you really think Sonny thinks the One True God was waiting to hear from him and his buds? Do the prayerful really think the Almighty makes up his (her) mind on what to do based on who is praying for what. I mean what if someone else was praying for it not to rain that day? Don't their prayers count,too? And how does this prayer for rain stuff fit into the whole notion of "God's plan." I mean He either has a plan or She doesn't.
I don't know, but Sonny probably does since he figured out the whole drought thing was just God's way to get our attention.
Whatever.
On the other hand, who are the twenty-two folks who had nothing better to do then come down and protest the prayer. Come on everyone, get a grip, are we all really imperiled if the governor of Georgia, who goes by the name of Sonny, and a few hundred of his closest friends pray for rain? I know...church and state...slippery slope...all that, but really, do you feel that if someone prays for rain the next step will be Taliban rule.
Can't we all just get along?
Someone should tell Sunny, I mean Sonny, and the protesters that us Jews have a special time, and I won't tell you when it is because you may not be one of the tribe (and you know this is part of our secret plan to take over the world) to pray for dew and rain (tal umatar). Now, its true that us Hebrews have never been that big on public prayer fests, well not since Sinai (pictured here). To tell the truth from my perspective and strike me down if I'm wrong, but all the praying we've done for five thousand years or so hasn't done us all that much good - it's like the old joke about us as the Chosen People, sometimes we'd like someone else to be chosen for a change of pace.
Do you really think Sonny thinks the One True God was waiting to hear from him and his buds? Do the prayerful really think the Almighty makes up his (her) mind on what to do based on who is praying for what. I mean what if someone else was praying for it not to rain that day? Don't their prayers count,too? And how does this prayer for rain stuff fit into the whole notion of "God's plan." I mean He either has a plan or She doesn't.
I don't know, but Sonny probably does since he figured out the whole drought thing was just God's way to get our attention.
Whatever.
On the other hand, who are the twenty-two folks who had nothing better to do then come down and protest the prayer. Come on everyone, get a grip, are we all really imperiled if the governor of Georgia, who goes by the name of Sonny, and a few hundred of his closest friends pray for rain? I know...church and state...slippery slope...all that, but really, do you feel that if someone prays for rain the next step will be Taliban rule.
Can't we all just get along?
Someone should tell Sunny, I mean Sonny, and the protesters that us Jews have a special time, and I won't tell you when it is because you may not be one of the tribe (and you know this is part of our secret plan to take over the world) to pray for dew and rain (tal umatar). Now, its true that us Hebrews have never been that big on public prayer fests, well not since Sinai (pictured here). To tell the truth from my perspective and strike me down if I'm wrong, but all the praying we've done for five thousand years or so hasn't done us all that much good - it's like the old joke about us as the Chosen People, sometimes we'd like someone else to be chosen for a change of pace.
Speaking of prayer and the plan, whenever I asked a rebbe about, say, what was up with the Holocaust anyway, where was Hashem during that business, they always just told me I didn't understand the plan. They were sure right about that one. I still don't.
But I digress.
What I want to repeat before ending this philosophical/theological tract is we've all got better things to worry about then a southern governor, even if his name is Sonny, praying for rain. If it makes him and some others happy, let them feel good about themselves. What do I care? Why should you?
Hey, maybe, the dudes right. Maybe Her Holiness is just waiting for someone to ask. What do I know?
I gotta admit to you all that when I'm out walking the doggie at night I look up into the infinite and put in a few requests to the great Out There myself. Figure it can't hurt...and I enjoy the conversation.
And since if you've ever read any books like "The Fabric of the Cosmos" (look it up),you'd know that there are so many different dimensions that you're doing just about anything you could be doing somewhere anyway.
Have I lost you yet? Have I said "anyway" enough yet?
But I digress.
What I want to repeat before ending this philosophical/theological tract is we've all got better things to worry about then a southern governor, even if his name is Sonny, praying for rain. If it makes him and some others happy, let them feel good about themselves. What do I care? Why should you?
Hey, maybe, the dudes right. Maybe Her Holiness is just waiting for someone to ask. What do I know?
I gotta admit to you all that when I'm out walking the doggie at night I look up into the infinite and put in a few requests to the great Out There myself. Figure it can't hurt...and I enjoy the conversation.
And since if you've ever read any books like "The Fabric of the Cosmos" (look it up),you'd know that there are so many different dimensions that you're doing just about anything you could be doing somewhere anyway.
Have I lost you yet? Have I said "anyway" enough yet?
The truth is, I'm just trying to keep Bill O'Reilly off my back with this piece.
The following is from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Perdue asks crowd to 'pray up a storm'
Drought is message from God to conserve better, governor says
By JAMES SALZER, JIM GALLOWAY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More than 250 faith-filled Georgians joined Gov. Sonny Perdue outside the Capitol this morning to pray for the rain needed to end the area's historic drought.
The governor was joined by several ministers; his wife, Mary; Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle; and many other state elected officials.
Gil Watson, senior minister of Northside United Methodist Church, prayed, "Lord, have mercy on your people, have mercy on us and grant us rain. Oh God, let rain fall on this land of Georgia."
About a dozen TV cameras representing local and national stations and more than a dozen print reporters and photographers captured the ceremony. At one point a TV helicopter threatened to drown out much of the sound.
Twenty-two protesters were forced to stay more than a block away, out of earshot and out of sight of the prayer service, on Martin Luther King Drive. They were members of the Atlanta Freethought Society. Signs include "Hail Priest-King Perdue" or "Pray on the Church Steps, not the Capitol Steps."
A lone demonstrator in front of the Central Presbyterian Church, directly across the street from the Capitol, was arrested minutes before the prayer service.
Police pulled a small sign from his hands ” which on one side read "Ten Commandments" and the other side "H.R. 536." The latter was a reference to a measure before the state Legislature that would declare human life to begin at the moment of conception.
Perdue said after the event that Georgians have not done "all we could do in conservation" and that the drought was an attempt by God to "get our attention."
"Hopefully we will be better conservators of the blessings God's given us as he gives us more (rain)," the governor said.
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