“For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of-except he pause and think…. God’s servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two-one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this-keep it in mind. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can be injured.”
In Mark Twain’s writings of, “The War Prayer” he tells the story of a town praying for the victory and safety for the men of their village that have been sent off to fight in the war. The whole settlement is in the church praying for these things when a strange man comes into the church, takes over the pulpit, and explains to the good God-fearing townspeople what exactly they are praying for- the spoken prayer and the unspoken prayer.
“O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with hurricanes of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen”
How often do we fall prey to this? When we pray to help ease someone’s burden tomorrow- are we not also praying for that person to have some sort of burden that is so heavy for them that they would need our help? As we pray for ope, are we not also praying for a hopeless situation to test our hope in order to strengthen it? A song by Collin Ray, “What I need” goes hand in hand with the words of Mark Twain. “'Cause I prayed for strength and I got pain that made me strong. I prayed for courage and got fear to overcome. When I prayed for faith my empty heart brought me to my knees. I don’t always get what I want, I get what I need.”
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Unfortunately, I do not really agree with what you said. To make it clear, I loved the essay by Mark Twain, the imagery was astounding and left me vacant in word. I loved the conclusion because it exposes the fact that we as humans push a cold shoulder toward any truths that may force us to change the way we act or live. When the people were told the whole story, they fabricated an image of the prophet as a lunatic because he spoke things they did not like. I believe this to be the point of major discussion. How often do we as humans fall prey to anger without origin simply because it challenges us. When we are told that we should stop cursing or that we treat others like we do our pets, do we take offense and ignore their suggestions, or do we change. I do not agree that every time we pray to lift another's burdens, we wish upon them a burden, for this is not so. Regardless, people will be laden down. When we pray for this, we simply ask to be there to lift it.
ReplyDeleteIt kind of felt like at the end the man was pretty much demonstrating an honesty in what some of the people may have been praying for. Some may have been humbly praying for peaceful negotiations and safety of their soldiers, but often, some people are just interested in winning the war. In reality, winning tends to include the grotesque things the man prayed for. Ironically, he was thrown out for it, though he was probably among them in purpose, but because of the way he stated it and due to the pride and blindness of the people, they conveniently sought his lack of political authority to reject him.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting passage. Until I read it, I never considered the idea that when you're praying for blessings for yourself, then you may be praying for someone else's downfall. I loved the imagery in this passage. It was really powerful, and it made you think about how the things that you want may affect you positively, but affect someone else negatively. This really made me think about my actions and the things that I ask for in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteMark Twain is one of my favorite authors. He has this way of captivating his audience, and it’s thrilling. For a research paper during my junior year of high school, I read Pudd’n Head Wilson written by Mark Twain. It has the same effect as this passage. Twain puts things into a completely different perspective. It’s like looking at things backwards, and it changes everything. However, I believe that when Americans pray for success of our armed forces, we do not wish ill for the people inhabiting the land. I believe humans are beautiful with good intentions. We pray not that the blood of the others will be spilt. We pray that the issue may be resolved so that there is no need for prolonged confrontation in these countries overseas. Mark Twain once compared humans to animals and wrote about savageness he saw in individuals. He’s very cynical as seen here and in the War Prayer, but he does bring an intriguing new view of things which I believe should be respected.
ReplyDeleteWow, this was pretty much an incredible essay. Story. Whatever. Crazy awesome, that's all I have to say. Well. Maybe I have more to say. I think the two-prayer thing is really interesting to think about, because since God loves all his children, why would he want to hurt others? How does he choose which prayers to answer? I don't have any idea. I suppose it's all part of the plan, and that he knows which prayers NEED to be answered, and who actually needs what, but it also makes me think about what I'm saying in my prayers more, and what I'm actually asking for.
ReplyDeleteThis article definitely provides food for thought. It is true that we must be careful what we ask for, as the old adage goes; I find that sometimes I ask for things that aren't right for me or for other people. We should be thoughtful in our prayers to the Almighty, and accept that he doesn't always answer our prayers in the way we would like. The wonderful thing about the Lord that I'm not sure this article considers is that he can see the beginning from the end--unlike man, he can see every single consequence of an action, and he will do that which is best for all involved.
ReplyDeleteThis essay was really mind opening to me. I had never really thought about our prayers for good possibly causing something terrible to happen to someone else. If we pray for a selfish desire on our part, maybe we will in the end hurt someone else. I really do not think this is the case, but it was an interesting thought regardless. (62) It got me thinking, do we really consider what negative effects we have on others when we fulfill our selfish desires.
ReplyDeleteAlthough praying for people to be safe and have victory at war is not a bad thing, it would cause defeat to the other side, which would be bad for them. I think the best thing we can pray for is God's will be done in all cases. That was we are certain it will all turn out for the better.
I have always loved reading Mark Twain. He has a way with words and creates vivid imagery. He also has a way of looking at things from a perspective that most of us would never even stop to consider. Before I read The War Prayer, I had never contemplated the unsaid implications of prayers like the one offered in the story. I think sometimes we, as humans, fail to see the other side of an issue, believing that only our side is the right side and what we choose will be the best. I liked what Sarah said—we should pray for God’s will to be done and trust that he will take care of the rest.
ReplyDeleteThis story really calls forth the imagery and change of thought in America that occurred during the Civil War, when the camera was first able to be used to record incidents in war. It was truly horrifying, and the images left an indellible impression on the American mind of the horrors of war. Many people view war as a romantic thing, seeing it in terms of heroes and villains, as the people in this story did. To them, they believed that their soldiers were saviors, destined to rid the world of evil, but this is simply not the case: during the Civil War, there were good and bad people on both sides -- it was not black and white. This story is Mark Twain calling people out on that foolish belief that war is a glorious endeavor, always polarized by good and evil. War is a horrific tool, to be used with caution and sparingly. What Mark Twain saw these people doing was praying the prayer of spiritual competition -- the people wanted their side to win, and wanted that win to be complete. The evidence that the visiting prophet was correct in his statements? The people pretend he is a madmen, and cast him out...just like the prophets of old.
ReplyDeleteThis essay reminds me of another one I read. I cannot remember the author, maybe it was Mark Twain, but it was used for a practice essay in an AP class. The essay illustrated the before and after for one article, and we had to compare the two, noting the change in diction and style. The objective of the essay was to show how worn out and distasteful some words became to some soldiers. These words included: glory, honor, victory, patriotism, etc. The hard truth is that we spectators can only see this vantage point, but the actual soldiers see the brutality and seemingly mindless destruction of war.
ReplyDeleteThis essay by Twain made much the same statement, but he implied the change that would occur in the soldiers through the words of the messenger. Very interesting.
I don’t think that we often pray for things that will hurt other people. Think about this for one second. Don’t we pray for things to work out the way they should, or we pray for strength, or we pray for us to do things with our best ability, or we pray to have the spirit guide us on our path. I think if we sit and think about the things we really talk about with God, we don’t usually ask to come out on top. I’m not saying that we are all perfect…I think that I can improve at this as well…but prayer is not meant to be that way. I think the important thing is to remember that we are praying to make our desires in accordance with HIS will – not to impose our own selfish desires. If we are praying for what is right, I think we will be able to feel that….well there’s Sarah’s opinion about the purposes of prayer. I just had to say it because some of the comments on here worried me a little :D
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