No X@$#!?* Allowed

I’m going away for the weekend. We have a vacation place in West Palm Beach—there’s nowhere you’d rather be than Florida in July! My hubby, David and I are looking forward to a get-away. We’ll relax, enjoy some restaurants, sit by the pool and do something together separately on Saturday. He’ll go play golf and I’ll go to my on a summer day. We fly into Palm Beach International. It’s still a relatively small airport by today’s standards. There’s a spot near the escalator that takes you to the baggage claim where you’ll get a welcoming smile from one of the many Floridian senior citizens. But this greeting is different from the official welcome you get from an aqua-jacketed volunteer from the Department of Tourism. She has gray-permed hair, a flowered dress (always a flowered dress), sensible shoes and a sign that says “I’ll Pray for You.” What a nice offer! She has no open guitar case, she’s not asking for money, she just wants you to take a leaflet. The one I got says; “Would You Like to Know the Truth?” are very active evangelists. They are also pariahs in many of the online Christian prayer sites I’ve researched. Me and , have been visiting chat rooms and forums to get ideas for a new feature we’re looking to add to the Prayables website. We’re building an online sacred space for women of different faiths to come together prayer. I found myself on . Here is a greeting taken directly from their site under Chat Room Rules:

We do not allow promoters of false doctrines and heresies such as JWs, Mormonism, Oneness theology, Baha'i faith, Arnold Murray, Etc.

It’s a free country and far be it from me to pass judgement, (ha, ha) but this just doesn’t seem right. I suppose a heretic could muck-up a pleasant chat, and maybe we’ll need to “keep ‘em out” of the Prayables sacred prayer space when it’s up and running. But don’t bet on it.

Wouldn’t it be a better more peaceful world if religious tolerance, rather than religious intolerance were the rule? There’s a wonderful group doing just that with a great website; . They have a staff that consists of a Zen Buddhist, Wiccan, Christian, Atheist and Agnostic. They don’t agree on almost every theological principle. But, they have a very long list of what they do agree on and it starts with:

“We do believe: In the inherent worth of every person. People are worthy of respect, support, and caring simply because they are human.”

I know that the little old lady in the airport who is praying for me, is worthy of respect. I know the folks in the My Guiding Light chat room are worthy of respect. I know that I am worthy of respect. Three of us with very different points of view, who likely would not agree on most things theological, have something in common. We share a respect for ourselves, and a respect for the dignity of prayer.

I need You
I weep for You
I reach out for You
I feel You
I think of You
I worship You

Guide me to be
a better person today
than yesterday
Let the joy of worship
manifest in me
and others will
know your comfort
understanding
forgiveness
and love.