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Don’t say a prayer for me now, save it til’ the morning after. Does anyone over 40 recognize that line? It comes from the 1982 song by Duran Duran. I always liked that song, probably because I like prayer. I know I’m not supposed to say that out loud in our increasingly secular society but I’m OK with you thinking I’m weird because I talk to the sky. Although in full disclosure sometimes when I pray I look at my feet, or the trees or nothing at all. Sometimes I just talk to the almighty hoping as he’s channel surfing the universe tunes me in. I think he does.
I wanted to talk a minute about prayer because of what happened the other day to actor Chris Pratt. If you don’t know the name you’d know the face from movies like “Guardians of the Galaxy” or “Jurassic World.” He’s able to pull off ruggedly handsome and funny at the exactly the same time which is tough to do on the big screen. He’s a bonafide star who just happens to be an unabashed Christian. He must feel at times like a round peg in the square sinkhole that is Hollywood but that’s a different column, let’s stick with Chris and prayer.
A movie director named Kevin Smith suffered a heart attack and nearly met his maker the other day and while most people expressed shock or offered, “Get well soon” messages on Twitter, Chris Pratt went a different route. He tweeted that he’d be praying very hard for Kevin and he encouraged others to pray for him as well.
Now you’d think most people would nod to the kindness and sentiment Pratt was expressing and even if they don’t believe in God, prayer or that Jesus was much more than a carpenter, they’d leave it be. Oh no, that’s not the internet. People immediately started mocking Pratt for his message and made a point of telling him that if Kevin Smith got better it would be because of doctors and medicine, not prayer.
Undaunted, Pratt doubleddown on his initial tweet and talked about the power of prayer and what he’s seen it do in people’s lives. You can’t accuse the guy of not wearing his faith on his sleeve or twitter page. That of course brought him even more rebuke.
Listen I’m not here to stick up for Pratt; he’s a big boy and can handle his own business. It just strikes me as telling that in 2018 as we have more school shootings, opioid addiction and misery in this world people are going out of their way to attack a man’s faith. It has truly become OK to mock people who go to church or believe in something beyond their smartphones and bank accounts.
Let’s say for the sake of my argument there is a God. Do we not see his hand in the intellect and care of those nurses and doctors tending to Kevin Smith? Do we not see him in the people around Smith who will help him on this road to recovery? Could Pratt’s prayer not be answered through them and their kind deeds?
I’ve said it before in this column I could care less what people believe or don’t believe that’s their business. My only qualm is this desire to leave their own safe space and publicly attack those who think differently than them. It honestly makes me wonder what is missing in the lives of people that they feel the need to knock down that which they don’t understand. I don’t get Scientology and I’ve watched the documentaries that paint that whole belief system in a very negative light but I don’t seek out Scientologists to tell them I think they are misguided. Not my business.
The late Christopher Hitchens was in a debate with Dinesh D’Souza over the existence or non-existence of God and after Hitchens made his very compelling case D’Souza offered a salient point. He said, “I don’t believe in unicorns Christopher but you don’t see me publishing books called ‘The Unicorn Delusion’ or ‘Unicorns Are Not Great’. Why this need to knock down something you say doesn’t exist?” Fair question.
Every time I write anything about my faith or God or prayer I stick my head out of the gopher hole and people send me nasty emails so I know I’ll get a couple over this column today. I swear to God I’m not trying to be preachy, I’m just making a simple request. If prayer is not your thing then don’t pray. If you see someone offering prayers for someone else, ignore them if you don’t believe in it.
One thing is undeniable however. Most people, even those who haven’t seen the inside of a church in decades, seem to appreciate people saying they are praying for them. If there is no God it certainly can’t hurt and if there is a divine power in charge you never know if that tiny prayer you send up might be answered.
So I’m praying for Chris Pratt today. I hope he keeps making fun movies and pushing against the tide.
John Gray is a news anchor on WXXA-Fox TV 23 and ABC’S WTEN News Channel 10. His column is published every Wednesday. Email him at johngray@fox23news.com.