This past Saturday, Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham led thousands in Prayer March 2020 on Capital Hill in Washington. As the crowd moved from one memorial to the next, they prayed for wisdom for our leaders, healing for our nation, and hope for our future.
Prayer has no agenda. It is non-partician. Prayer is communication between a person and their god. It is not possible to manipulate God. The act of prayer is to submit to God's will. The gathering of faiths, many faiths and many people from different walks of life, came together to ask God to heal our land and the hurts created this year. The pandemic contributed to the deaths of over 180,000 individuals in the United States. Each of those people had families, friends, and coworkers and they were left behind to mourn their loved ones loss in isolation. Stay home orders did not allow them to go to their clergy, their church families, or their sanctuaries where they could find healing. Prayer March 2020 allowed an opportunity for those families and friends to gather with others who were also hurting.
Evangelist Franklin Graham has been running a charity called Samaritan's Purse providing disaster relief to ravaged communities for the past 50 years. Years ago I assisted in packaging boxes for the Operation Christmas Child project and assembled thousands of boxes filled with gifts to be sent to underprivileged children around the world.
I am encouraged by the number of young adults who attended the march. Liberty University sent 46 buses loaded with students and staff who drove from Lynchburg, Virginia to Washington DC to participate and provide additional support. One person who attended made a comment that this is truly "counter culture" to what is happening in America today. It reveals a stark contrast between a truly peaceful march and one where peaceful protests result in creating devision, death, and devastation.
"We are one human race."
Alveda King