People of different beliefs throughout our country will pray today for the health and happiness of our nation.
They will be praying different words and in different ways, but all mobilized in unified public prayer for the good of America. This year’s theme is “Lord, Pour Out Your Love, Life and Liberty.”
The history of public prayer predates the birth of our nation. In 1775, the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation.
Many other times when our leaders wanted spiritual support, Americans were called on to pray for the nation.
In the midst of the Civil War in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a day of “humiliation, fasting and prayer.”
In 1953, Congress established an annual day of prayer. The law was amended in 1988, designating the first Thursday in May of every year as our National Day of Prayer. Last year, all 50 state governors, plus governors of several U.S. territories, signed similar proclamations (see NationalDayofPrayer.org).
While the National Day of Prayer began and is often thought of as a Christian holiday, it is not exclusive only to Christians. Anyone of any faith can participate! In fact, over 40,000 prayer gatherings are held every year — at churches, courthouses, mosques, synagogues, temples, and schools — which means millions of people are in prayer on this day.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things, including how and even whether we can pray together physically. But the power of human prayer will carry on nevertheless.
I write this letter on behalf of the Interfaith Roundtable of Kaua‘i (known as IROK), with which I became involved seven years ago after moving to the island. That was the first time I participated in the National Day of Prayer. IROK has been celebrating and praying together for our nation for 10 years. Every year we gather at the Lihu‘e Civic Center rotunda with the mayor’s support and often personal participation on the first Thursday in May to pray.
That stopped last year as we all tried to adjust to the reality of surviving a pandemic. This year we’ll resume our observance, but in a different way.
IROK decided to invite our regular participants and friends to write down prayers which are now posted on our website: interfaithroundtableofkauai.org, under National Day of Prayer, for anybody to see. Some of these prayers also will be posted on our Facebook page: facebook.com/interfaithroundtableofkauai, with a link back to our web page.
On these two sites you will encounter a variety of prayers offered by representatives of such diverse spiritual paths as Sikh, Buddhist, the Center for Spiritual Living Kaua‘i, Baha’i, Fellowship of the Inner Light, Christian New Thought, Jewish, Brahma Kumaris, Universal Dances of Peace, Remember the Goddess, etc. Mayor Kawakami will be adding his prayer as well. This diversity of religious thought and practice did not exist in the early days of this country, but this is what we’ve become.
The National Day of Prayer Task Force website shares the following wisdom: “The National Day of Prayer belongs to all Americans. It is a day that transcends differences, bringing together citizens from all backgrounds.” That sentiment is so welcome at this point in our society’s history.
We invite you to take the time to pray for our nation, and visit the IROK website or Facebook page for inspiration.
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Al Albergate is a resident of Princeville.
