National Day of Prayer Marked By Recognition of Flaws, Calls for Change
A presidential call for a national day of prayer in remembrance of the victims of hurricane Katrina was heeded yesterday as churches, groups and individuals recalled the tragedy, the circumstances being faced by many of the most vulnerable.
A presidential call for a national day of prayer in remembrance of the victims of hurricane Katrina was heeded yesterday as churches, groups and individuals recalled the tragedy, the circumstances being faced by many of the most vulnerable, and a challenge to turn from past ways.
At the Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital the President recalled the destruction of the region, and the suffering that befell some of those already in hardship such as the “elderly, vulnerable and the poor.” He said that the rebuilding process would measure how united the nation was, and also called for the nation to do away with “the legacy of inequality.”
“This task will measure our unity as a people,” the president said. “Americans of every race and religion were touched by this storm; yet some of the greatest hardship fell upon citizens already facing lives of struggle – the elderly, the vulnerable, and the poor. And this poverty has roots in generations of segregation and discrimination that closed many doors of opportunity.”
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He continued, saying, “As we clear away the debris of a hurricane, let us also clear away the legacy of inequality. Let us deliver new hope to communities that were suffering before the storm.
Bishop T.D. Jakes, Pastor of the Potter’s House Church in Dallas also spoke at the interfaith Washington service, driving home the point that the nation shouldn’t avert its eyes from the problem of poverty.
"Katrina, perhaps, she has done something to this nation that needed to be done," Jakes said. "We can no longer be a nation that overlooks the poor and the suffering, that continues past the ghetto on our way to the Mardi Gras."
He added a challenge to those present. "Until we love enough to trade places with the poor, the disadvantaged, the disenfranchised, and, yes, even minorities in this country, then healing will not be real," he said. "And it will never be complete."
The feeling was echoed at other services throughout the country. In Colorado, at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Denver, Father Steve Carlsen said the nation was only as strong as its weakest link.
"We are only as strong as our weakest link and when we leave people without the means to care for themselves in the midst of disaster it tells us that we have work to do together," Father Carlsen said to CBS4 television.
“It did break my heart that the people most at risk didn't receive our protection,” he added, “Maybe this was something to bring that all to full focus and maybe it’s time we really did something about that.”
In Nashville, the Rev. Enoch Fuzz, President of the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship, focused the day on helping victims, and did not hold a special service.
“We need a prayer that’s walking and not just talking,” he said. “We need a prayer with legs now,” he told the Associated Press.
At Spirit of Life United Pentecostal Church in North Carolina, the Rev. Brent Watts, from Spirit of Life United Pentecostal Church offered a prayer for the victims and families, asking that humility prevail throughout the country.
“Our hearts are moved today as we realize what has come to pass,” Watts said, according to the Free Press. “We need a healing in our land, so we set ourselves to humble ourselves.”
