The Kansas Senate opened the legislative session Monday with an especially apt prayer by Chaplain Fred S. Hollomon:
Last year we were dealing
With a shortfall in the millions,
Now we hear it could amount
To, believe it or not, a billion!
So it seems to me, O God,
Our problem has really grown
To where it’d be unwise
To tackle it alone.
I think we need your help, O God,
More than we did before,
To even have a chance
Our balance to restore.
There may be those who wonder, Lord,
Whether it matters much to You
What happens in these chambers
And what it is we do.
Should there really be a doubt,
Then once more we should recall
The advice Ben Franklin gave
In Constitution Hall.
When the convention was in trouble
It was Franklin who advised,
‘‘If God knows when sparrows fall,
Won’t He help an empire rise?”
Please don’t let the Chaplain, Lord,
Be the only one who prays.
Let there be a lot of praying
During these 90 days.
Even research supports prayer,
So for this session’s sake
Don’t let us act surprised
At the difference that You make!
40 Comments
Nothing fails like prayer.
Kansans pay for a highly touted Governor and a state legislature consisting of 40 state senators and 125 state house of representatives. Their primary job is to provide oversight to the state’s spending.
Where have these elected officials been hiding while this huge problem built up?
You should probably at least try it it before you pronounce it ineffective, Maggie. Otherwise some people might say that you are just another grumpy atheist with a chip on his shoulder.
What’s he praying for? That “God” will float us a loan?
You’d think praying before session would be unconstitutional. I don’t like that people are praying before session anyway, perhaps that’s the problem.
Too many people out there relying on the supernatural to save them.
“Political_mama” observes –
“You’d think praying before session would be unconstitutional. I don’t like that people are praying before session anyway, perhaps that’s the problem.
Too many people out there relying on the supernatural to save them.”
It’s just one of those silly rituals.
Try getting rid of silly rituals.
Bring out a birthday cake with candles ablaze and prevent people from singing “Happy Birthday to you…”
The late Bill Vaughan of the Kansas City Star once noted how a clergyman gave “a stirring and moving prayer to the Kansas Legislature last night” and noted the pastor might have served better had he “given the prayer to God instead of the Legislature.”
And that’s really what Jesus was talking about when he instructed his followers to closet themselves away to communicate with God.
Public prayer, school prayer, “so help me God” tagged on to an oath… ya gotta wonder if Jesus is up there saying, “You missed the point!”
It’s not supposed to be about who’s praying in front of whom. Unless the only “whom” is God.
Mom, if there were butt sex before session that would be alright with you?
You fugging double standard twits.
Let them pray, is it of consequence to your sensiblities? For real?
I’ll agree with you that it’s dumb, but how in the fug, does it affect you?
My thoughts are those of Thomas Paine, “if God has a plan, how would any amount of prayer change or even influence his plan?”
I’m just sick of it all being just so because it was so. I think its silly, but more than that its intrusive on our rights. And honestly, are we ever going to truly adhere to the first amendment EVER? It is no wonder Christians think they have this automatic right to impose prayer on the masses when we have tradition that makes it ok. Its not ok.
Is it any sweat off my back if someone else prays? No. But if he’d had plopped down a prayer rug right there, you can bet your behind that Christians would have been up in arms. By the way, I love your Thomas Paine quote. I think I’ll use it.
Did anybody stop to think that perhaps God wanted the republicans to screw up so bad?
Seems to happen every time they get into power. Having God on their side really doesn’t seem to be helping them much.
PSST, maybe HE’s trying to tell you to put dems back in the statehouse.
“Pleefer” asks –
“…if there were butt sex before session that would be alright with you?”
I suspect that happens a lot more than you imagine. Only it occurs in the Topeka Ramada Inn instead of the state house.
Probably in Brenda Landwehr’s suite.
Pmom if you don’t believe in the power of prayer then it is just words isn’t it? Are you going to deny someone their freedom of speech because YOU don’t like prayer?
Monkeyhawk, most of the really “sick” stuff is left to the “religious” right to perform. I think the greater portion of “deviant” behavior comes from those who hide behind their religion. Many high profile names come to mind…you know the folks I’m talking about.
Pmom, that quote was stolen by me too, it’s all yours and is a good “ice breaker”. I’ve heard from the weirdo’s that, “maybe part of His plan was to have that prayer spoken, He works in mysterious ways”.
oooohhhhh shiver me timbers, how esoteric…
Talk about delusional…hey dumb arses, God ain’t gonna make it hard to figure out how to serve Him. On the contrary, He surely would make it pretty fuggin’ cut and dry don’t ya think?
I’ll be praying for an early 12,21,2012…
Maybe it’ll shut up the Christian zealots AND the AGW zealots.
God, please put us out of our misery…
“I’ll be praying for an early 12,21,2012…”
What happens then?
butt sex and prayer should both be kept in private.
heh, that’s gotta be the best post I’ve made all year.
Fleep,
“…if there were butt sex before session that would be alright with you?”
Maybe if there were some kind of satisfying sex each day for the members of the legislature, they wouldn’t be so inclined to place their pet hatreds before the business of the people.
Monk,
“Bring out a birthday cake with candles ablaze and prevent people from singing “Happy Birthday to you…””
Easy enough to do. Haven’t you been to one of those irritating restaurants with singing waiters? Since “Happy Birthday” is copyrighted, they simply set a similar message to a catchier tune. Maybe that’s what the legislature needs to do with their prayer.
Oh, and Fleep,
I like Ambrose Bierce’s definition of prayer; “Pray- to ask that the laws of the universe be suspended on behalf of a single petitioner, confessedly unworthy.”
“Jed” suggests –
“…those irritating restaurants with singing waiters [who] set a similar message to a catchier tune. Maybe that’s what the legislature needs to do with their prayer.”
The Kansas Legislature is pretty childish already. Perhaps the opening ritual for their sessions should be appropriate. Maybe they could play musical chairs before they convene. Some of them would end up on the wrong side of the chamber and have no idea how to vote.
Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Governor could be another opening ritual. It could be efficient since most Republic Party Representatives and Senators are already dizzy even before they’d put on the blindfold.
Another proposal: Some sessions of the Kansas Legislature begin with a mass Hokey-Pokey session. It might inspire them to turn themselves around.
We really need that.
Aren’t fleeps part of that logic test?
If some fleeps are floops and all floops are morps then at least some morps are fleeps? Right?
Jed admit it, you pray for multiple sessions of good religious butt sex don’t you?
I crack myself up…
But not all morps are fleeps; some are hines, and a few are corps.
Fleep,
No, I’ve never needed to pray for sex; what I pray for is freedom from idiots, and that prayer has never been answered.
bth,
You really don’t know?
Good, you’re not alone.
The astronomically correct on everything else, Mayan’s, claim that it’s the end of the
a) World
b) epoch
c) age
all depending on your understanding and translation.
Me, I think it’s a magnetic polar shift, which would explain the “climate change” and the last time that happened was at the end of the last ICE AGE (when stuff was melting and evaporating and stories of a “great deluge” were all over the ancient world. We know that story as the story of Noah). With all of that ice melting and evaporating, there would be lots o’ rain eh?
Einstein and Charles Hapgood both thought it to be “crustal displacement” or “continental drift” (like when Pangaea broke apart). And New Agers believe it to be some sort of “awakening in consciousness” which could also be right.
Who knows? All I want to have happen is proving to all of these zealots of AWG and religion that we human’s are infinitesimal, to God, the Earth and the universe. I hope that the Mayan’s were right on this one too.
Google: ancient flood myths of the World. Here’s a small example:
http://ancienthistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=ancienthistory&cdn=education&tm=22&gps=104_1001_1025_726&f=10&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.dreamscape.com/morgana/puck.htm
I’d just hope for anything to stir things up a bit.
Surely, you’re just effing with me??? I figured everyone knew.
Yeahhh, you’re just being silly.
Good luck with that wishful thinking Jed…I’m wishing the same thing.
My dad used to tell me, “wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which fills up first”.
Stupidity should be excrutiatingly painful, but alas God is merciful.
Fleep,
“Stupidity should be excrutiatingly painful, but alas God is merciful.”
If god was truly merciful there wouldn’t be stupidity.
The Pangea breakup was about a quarter-BILLION years ago. And magnetic reversals do NOT correlate with glacial cycles.
I now recall the Mayan legend about the end of ‘whatever’ now. Thanks for reminding me.
bth,
It wasn’t a legend, it was careful mathematical calculation by the people who invented zero, that told them that the calendar, and hence time, ended on that date. Fortunately, while mathematics may be used to explain the universe, it doesn’t control it.
outlander whines,
“You should probably at least try it it before you pronounce it ineffective, Maggie. Otherwise some people might say that you are just another grumpy atheist with a chip on his shoulder.”
The day someone prays for a missing limb to regrow and it comes back then I’ll buy into your bead rattling beliefs. Until then prayer has a 100% fail rate.
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/
Ben Franklin also said “Lighthouses are more useful than Churches”
Churches are, in a sense, lighthouses, TomPaine.
But if grumpy atheists like Maggie refuse to take a step out of the darkness, they will never know.
I prefer the light of reason outlander. Speaking of Ben Franklin, he invented the lightning rod. Churches considered it heretical as it took away the power of god. However, after enough churches were burned after steeples got hit by lightning they changed their tune. Now why did they need a piece of godless technology when prayer was supposed to be so much better? For that matter, why bother having insurance when prayer really works?
Naturally I won’t hold my breath waiting for anyone to produce evidence that prayer works, because there isn’t any.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4681771.stm
“And magnetic reversals do NOT correlate with glacial cycles…”
How many folks on this here world have lived through one of them there magnetic reversals?
In any case, this ain’t no Y2K thing, I’m fairly certain of that.
If prayer does work, it works only for that individual. Just like any of the “mysteries”, “miracles” and other supernatural occurrences in the Bible they are only hear-say and thus are only miracles for those single individuals who “experienced” them.
Just like Thomas Paine wrote in “The Age of Reason”, (paraphrased here)”you would think, knowing the Roman’s were literate and kept records of everything, that when Jesus rose from the dead and with him the saints, that someone would have seen that and wrote about it in the Roman …press”. But of course, the ONLY place you get to read of such a feat is in the 4 Godspells of The Holy Biblios and even they aren’t in complete agreement with each other!
Surely someone would have seen dear Uncle Ben-deadlongagous walking around alive and well?? There were supposed to have been thousands of them that rose with Jesus?? Maybe I just don’t have the faith required to believe in that “holey” book.
I’ll stick with knowing, sorry… thinking, that God is energy and thus we’re all part of “it”.
Outie,
“You should probably at least try it it before you pronounce it ineffective, Maggie.”
I can’t say I’ve ever prayed, but I’ve had somewhat more than my share of miracles in my life.
You don’t understand prayer Maggie, but why should I expect that you would?
I will just say that I personally have been guided, warned, and even healed when major surgery was the only option left. So, out of personal experience, I know He hears, heals, and guides.
Don’t expect you to believe; just testifying as to what happened to me.
I understand prayer outlander, it’s people talking to themselves. Nothing wrong with that except for when the delusional believes someone talks back.
Wow then I guess my dad…an atheist…was healed as well when the cancer he was diagnosed with…er…misdiagnosed with was miraculously “healed” too.
Please do tell Outlander, what great miracle was healed by God for you?
So when you get sick and he doesn’t heal you the next time..that’ll be what..his will?
As far as the amputee, don’tcha know God only allows the Godless to get sick?
if i were so inclined to gaze to the heavens & offer a supplication it would be for the STUPID electorate of the state that do not remove their so called representatives from office but allow this continuation of public malfeasance…