Pray for a Change

                              My family always said grace before dinner.  We thanked God for the bounty my mother prepared, except for the Brussels spouts my little brother stuffed in his pockets and I tossed beneath my chair.  When mom discovered the mess we'd made, it was truly time to bow our heads and say our prayers.
                              When I slept at grandma's house as a young child, I'd kneel beside the bed and recite prayers.  Then I'd lie in bed and hear her whisper prayers in Italian.  I swear I heard a hosanna choir.
                              We prayed in church, in hospitals for the sick, and at funerals for the deceased.  I even remember kneeling and praying in front of the TV as a 10-year-old, hoping Bart Starr wouldn't quarterback sneak the Packers past the Cowboys in the final seconds of the NFL Championship.  That prayer went unanswered. Who knew God favored Lombardi the Catholic over Landry the Methodist?
                              In each instance, prayer was appropriate, if not always answered, and no one felt excluded.
                             The same cannot be said of those negatively affected by the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 opinion Monday that allows local government officials to begin public meetings with a prayer.    The case refers to local religious leaders in Greece, N.Y., who were invited to begin the town's monthly meetings with a prayer.  Between 1999 and 2007, nearly all the clerics were Christian, and the town did nothing to encourage members of other faiths to give the prayer.  That angered some non-Christians who attended meetings, and two women filed suit, contending the policy violated the First Amendment ban on establishment of religion. 
                            The high court viewed it differently, ruling that sectarian invocations at public meetings aren't unconstitutional as long as attendees aren't forced to join in reciting the prayer or feel coerced to convert to a religion.
                            But how could those attending such meetings not feel marginalized?  If all prayers were delivered by a Christian clergy member, how would Jews, Buddhists, Islamists, Hindus, Taoists or followers of other non-Christian religions feel.  Or non-believers?  It may not sound like such a big deal until it's not the prayer of your faith.  If each town meeting were to begin with an Islamic prayer, or salaat, instead of a Christian one, you can bet sparks would-fly.  Opinions would be different if the prayer was on the other foot.
                           I'm one who believes in God, and have wrung my hands as a young boy after mistakenly eating a hot dog on Friday during Lent.  But is open prayer at a government meeting necessary?   Can't we pray in the car on the way to the meeting or when we return home?  That way, no one would feel offended or marginalized at the meeting, and we'd all enjoy a direct line to our deity.
                          Justice Elena Kagan, expressing the opinion for the dissenters, framed the issue perfectly.
                          "When the citizens of this country approach their government, they do so only as Americans, not as members of one faith or other," she wrote.  "They should not confront government-sponsored worship that divides them along religious lines."
                          Open prayer has its place:  before unpopular dinner vegetables are dumped on the floor; before bed; before the altar; before the infirm and the dead; and before a quarterback sneaks into the end zone and brings a 10-year-old to his knees.
                           But not before discussions about sidewalk easements and property taxes.