What if the answer to your prayer is "No!"?

"I think it's time for us to just hand it over to God, and say, 'God: You're going to have to fix this.'"
- Rick Perry, Governor of Texas

Our esteemed governor has announced that he's going to announce that he's going to run for the presidency, so I think it is fair for the country to take a look at how he would handle the nation's most serious problems. Based on all the evidence that we have, he would handle them with prayer.

In April of this year, Texas was suffering from a six-month-long extreme drought and thousands of wildfires that had been brought on by that drought. Perry decided it was time to pray. He issued an official proclamation that the three day period from Friday, April 22, to Sunday, April 24, would be "Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas." The governor then ostentatiously prayed, publicly and often, rather like the Pharisees of Jesus' time.

It's now four months later and Texas has gone from an extreme drought to an exceptional drought which may prove to be the worst in the state's history. Not only is it dry, but for the last couple of weeks, we have suffered through daily triple-digit temperatures. Lakes, creeks, and ponds have dried up. The landscape is littered with dead, brown trees. Farmers are unable to produce any usable crops.

But Perry hasn't lost his faith in prayer to solve our problems. Last Saturday, he led a prayer-fest of some 30,000 evangelicals in Houston's Reliant Center. Among other things, they prayed for economic recovery for the country. Two days later, on Monday, the stock market suffered its worst one-day collapse since the 2008 crisis, dropping by 635 points.

Perhaps next Mr. Perry will attempt to pray away Texas' pollution for ours is one of the most polluted states in the country. The prevalence of dirty air and dirty water everywhere in the state has serious implications for public health. (And, oh, yes, our state has more people without medical insurance than any other state.)

While he's at it, he might also pray to God to fix our educational system - an educational system that doesn't serve the interest of actually educating children, but only teaches them to pass the standardized tests on which schools and teachers are judged. Relying on standardized tests as the sole indicator of whether "our children is learning," as George Bush would say, is a relic of the Bush era in Texas government but the torch has been carried forward and relit repeatedly by Mr. Perry.

I do not mean to mock anyone's faith in prayer. Perry, in his private life, is certainly free to pray how and as often as he feels the need, but as someone who wants to lead this diverse country, his insistence on "Jesus prayer" to the exclusion of all other beliefs is troubling to say the least. There are many ways of praying in this country and it is inappropriate for anyone representing the government to favor one of them over another. The country was founded upon the principle of separation of church and state and the day that it forgets that principle and elevates one religion as the designated state religion will be the day that the idea that was America begins to crumble.

Anyway, it seems that God is not too impressed with public, ostentatious, and self-serving (to enhance one's bona fides with the religious right) prayers either. So far the answer to all of Perry's very public prayers has been a resounding "NO!" I suspect he might receive the same answer to his prayers to become president.

(For more on "Rick Perry's Unanswered Prayers," read Timothy Egan's excellent column in today's New York Times.)

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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