I just read that Senator Ted Kennedy has a serious illness.
I stopped what I was doing and prayed for him and urge you to do the same.
This is true, even if you disagree with him politically as I do.
Common humanity is more important than politics. Failure to realize this is neither conservative nor Christian. We pray for Senator Kennedy as a human being, because we recognize the limits of politics.
His soul and his pain are more important than all the budgets that have ever been passed.
We will all face the painful evidence of our mortality. Only a saint or a cad can fail to have sympathy for any sick man. The saint can do so because he is wise and deeply insightful enough to know when sympathy is not appropriate or helpful. The cad ignores pity, because he is too self-important to sympathize with anyone other than self.
Most harsh people think they are saints, but are actually cads.
Why pray for Senator Kennedy when we don’t know him? Are we just being “star struck” and honoring the famous more for their fame?
If our humanity is common, then shouldn’t we stop and pray for everyone. Would we ever do anything but sympathize with the pain of the billios around us?
Partly, we should never stop praying sympathetically. However, some men and women fall within our circle of accountability for special prayer. Our leaders are some of those people. If Saint Paul can ask the Roman Christians to pray for their regional kings, there is no member of our government who does not merit this concern.
We are honoring one of our leaders who is wounded when we pray for Senator Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy chose to live a life of public service. He need not have done so. He has been a leader of the Republic for decades, for good and ill, but Scripture commands us to pray for our leaders. We also honor him for his position and for his sacrifices. The Kennedy family has given a great deal to the nation and it appropriate for all of us to honor this commitment.
We pray for every person what we pray for self, “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”