Do we pray anymore?

Piety is obsolete in a secular society.  Not entirely of course.  Always there are remote places that have yet to hear the news.  News takes time. “God is dead,” Nietzsche proclaimed as in the “Gay Science” published 1882.  A way of life predicated upon reliance upon the technology of the late industrial age (Nietzsche’s world) to say nothing of life conditioned by the cyber-reality of instant communication, next day delivery of products by a global supply chain (our 21st century world) — is there credible basis for continuing to believe in gods, or a god?  Of course many continue to feign belief.  Is that simply habit, not unlike a race car which continues to roll forward after the power is cut…

Prayer?  What moves us to pray?

At the drag strip Saturday afternoon, everyone seated in the stands, I and those standing around the staging lanes were eager to see the match up between two pro-modified ’57 Chevys owned by the Messino family.   The original ’57 Shake Rattle and Run matching up for a side by side contest with the recently built late-version of the car, held the prospect of a special thrill on this summer perfect day at the track.

The engines of the cars fired in the staging lanes, both cars slowly rolling forward toward the starting line.  Unexpectedly the engine of the original racer went silent.  The driver restarted the engine, which now ran with a rough, ill sounding note.  What to do but push the car to the side of the two starting lanes…  Several crew members hinged forward the fenders to expose the engine, within moments pit crews of both cars gathered around the car to confer among themselves.  The conundrum: finding the problem within the complex of fuel, air, and spark, — all of which must function in perfect harmony for the car to perform according to it’s purpose.

That’s when the gathering of individuals, just a few feet from me seemed as if a collective appeal to whatever gods-there-may-be for a solution to their problem.

What is prayer — if not the focus of our attention, in extreme circumstances?  It’s that appeal for assistance, for a gift of inspiration that will throw light upon the problem at hand.

Does anyone pray anymore?

Of course we do.  It is only human to seek help beyond ourselves.

Did the Messino family, the crew members quickly fire the engine to run properly?

They were not able to do so.