Simon’s Says
You may have read about The Rev. William Barber, who on Monday was arrested for praying in the US Capitol Rotunda, along with The Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Steven Swayne, director of the St Francis Springs Prayer Center. They were charged with “crowding, obstructing and incommoding” [a new word for me!], and it needs to be said that they fully expected to be arrested. The manner of their arrest was a bit curious though: dozens of uniformed officers first expelled everyone else from the rotunda, including the press, then closed and locked the doors. The three were then led away in plastic handcuffs.
Reaction was swift and predictable. Others have been arrested for demonstrating in that space, and laws forbidding the practice are clear; the three knew they would be subject to arrest, and prayed nonetheless, so in a sense they accomplished their objective. Still, many have objected to the arrests on moral and religious grounds, many of my colleagues among them. But I came away with a different thought: the prayers of Barber, Wilson-Hargrove and Swayne must have been particularly powerful if they provoked the level of reaction they did. If prayer were a harmless, innocuous practice, if it were little more than a symbolic exercise, the Capitol police could simply have just let them pray and go on their way – no harm, no foul. But the extent of their overreaction – expelling every possible witness, including the press, locking the doors, and then executing the arrest – suggests a certain amount of trepidation. What if prayer were truly efficacious? What if those prayers actually worked? “Against the conspiracy of cruelty,” their prayers repeated, “we plead the power of Your mercy.” The power of divine mercy to overcome the power of human cruelty – what a provocative (and gospel-centric) thought! Obviously the idea is too much for some to stomach, although for people of faith it is a given: prayer works, and mercy prevails. As it was for the apostle Paul, in their arrest lay their vindication and victory.
Come to the Rummage Sale tomorrow! There are a lot of wonderful items in our fellowship hall, and every one of them would look stunning in your home! We are open from 9:00 until 1:00 – see you then.
Links to Sunday’s bulletin and service are here: