for all the right reasons
November 23, 2010 (Tuesday)
Yesterday’s blog was about the assassination of President Kennedy November 22, 1963. I stated at the close of the blog that after the Friday assassination, our church was full on Sunday the 24th. I’m sure all the other churches were full also.
There was one other time when our church was full. When I say that, perhaps I need to tell you that on any given Sunday we were about 20% full, so a full church was quite something. The other occasion was about a year before the assassination, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The world was on the verge of nuclear war. The military was on alert and war was imminent if the crisis could not be resolved another way. Along with all the other pastors in the Dallas area, I received a letter from the mayor, Earle Cabell, asking us to have a special day of prayer on the Sunday when the crisis was at its height.
Evacuation routes were clearly marked in Dallas, in case of the threat of nuclear attack. Much had been said to the populace about knowing which roads to use in case they would ever be needed. When the actual threat seemed to be present, we were told to ignore those signs and stay at home. Go to the stores and stock up on batteries, radios, and emergency supplies. It was seen that actual evacuation of a large city would only create gridlock on all the roads, and, besides, no one really knew the targets. People might find themselves moving from a likely target only to find themselves in a place just as dangerous. So we were asked by the leaders to pray.
The church where I preached, therefore, was filled to the brim with concerned people who had come to pray and seek God’s help, two times. Once during the Cuban Missile Crisis and again after the assassination of a president in our town.
When I was in the seminary, we began our classes with prayer. I recall one day when we opened our “blue books” and prepared to take a test, that a student inquired of the professor, “Aren’t we going to have prayer?” The teacher replied, “No outside help allowed!”
Apparently, when “push comes to shove,” and we see a situation that is much bigger than we are, it’s OK for a city to seek God in prayer. As a matter of fact, when you stop and think about it, there is no way that anything in this world or any other that can keep you from praying if you want to.
It was plain to see on those two Sundays in Dallas that no one was trying to make a political statement or stage a show of any kind, or prove any kind of point. The big crowds that went to church for prayer on those two days in the early sixties were there for all the right reasons.