And The Whole World Prayed... The War In Iraq
Wondering what you can do in this time of war and ominous possibilities? Consider the inspiration to be borrowed from the miraculous events of the Apollo 13 space mission. We need not be passive witnesses to the horrors of war. We can liberate the heart's intention for peace, for joy, and for positive solutions to difficult situations. Read more...
As people in various parts of the world sit glued to television and radio, monitoring the development of the war in Iraq and worrying about the fate of those involved, I thought it might be useful to reflect on another event that gathered great world interest -- not ten years ago in the last Gulf War, but 33 years ago, on April 13th, 1970. It began with a variant on the now famous catch phrase, "Houston, we have a problem."
Anyone who's viewed the Ron Howard/Tom Hanks film about NASA's Apollo 13 mission knows the story of the near catastrophe that could have ended any number of ways, most plausibly with the death of the entire crew.
But what happened instead was a miracle...
The New York Times reported special prayer services, and the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution urging prayer. Prayers were said at the Chicago Board of Trade, and prayers for the Apollo 13 crew sounded at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. The Pope voiced his hope that the crew's lives could be saved before thousands convened at St. Peter's Basilica. What evidence indicates an impact from the outpouring of prayer?
In short, as the people around the world prayed for the crew of the Apollo 13 and for their safe return, new ideas began sparking in the minds of the crew and those assisting them. An alternate method of orienting themselves, and thus navigating, was recalled. And an inspired method for revamping their damaged batteries was suddenly conceived.
As the world prayed, the crew applied the jumper-charge. Despite the fact that one of those four large batteries exploded during the rescue, a very sobering moment, the jump-charge succeeded. Miraculously, that malfunctioning battery healed itself continuing to produce power throughout the mission. The crew would be able to deorbit in the command module. (Jerry Woodfill, NASA's Apollo 13 Alarm System Engineer)
It was as if people all around the globe were lending their strength, their strength of will and hope and intelligence. Those who seemed headed for disaster found another path, another road to follow. And the outcome was joy.
Such a time is upon us now, in world events. It may be tempting to sit by and passively watch, eager to discover "how it turns out". But we do have another option. We can choose to tune in to our hearts, and to reconnect with the deepest desire that lives within each of us -- for a world in which frightened children are held safe, for a world in which mothers and fathers know joy, for a world in which brave warriors come home, and for a world in which angry passions are cooled and transmuted into reason and cooperative intent.
The beauty of prayer is that we need not know the specific solutions or paths that will bring these dreams to fruition. We must only feel deeply our desire, our heartfelt desire -- in this case, that desire common to all of us (for peace, for joy, for a just and loving world) and we must speak of it to that which always listens, and to that which is always ready to guide us and heal us.
Certainly it is hard for many people to justify a belief in prayer, to make it fit with current scientific philosophies or to make it fit into a non-religious world view. But it must be recognized that prayer is one of those mysteries that, like love, transcends the dissection of the rational mind.
We do know that in our darkest hours we instinctively cry out to someone, to something. We may address it variously as God, Goddess, Allah-- or we may not even give it a name. But when our need is greatest, when our pain, our fear, our concern is greatest, something in us crys out to it.
And as people from many walks of life can testify, when the prayer is sincere -- when it comes from a purity of need beyond manipulation, beyond our own resistance, and beyond all the props of the ego -- something answers. And things happen.
Do we need to know why? Do we need to argue about God and religious doctrine, about scientific theories and our concepts of the Real? No, we need not. We have only to desire with all our hearts. We have only to speak from that place within our spirits, and ask.
This is one of those times where the path of world events may fork in many directions. In such moments, it can be good to take action, and to put trust in those persons and material actions which are of help to us. But is it enough? Has it ever been enough? Do we even know, rationally, what the right path is? (Whether to be at war or not. What the best outcome of the war would be.) And so doubting, should we simply sit by and passively wait for others to take matters to their own conclusions?
Or can we listen inwardly, hear the message of our hearts, and join together in prayer as people did 33 years ago, when three lives glimmered in the darkness of space, and were not extinguished.
Please feel free to copy this message and send it to others.
We ask only that you credit the source: www.earthskids.com
For more about the inspiring story of Apollo 13, visit the website of NASA
engineer, Jerry Woodfill, from whom the passages quoted above were gratefully borrowed.
