During my down time this past weekend I came upon a story telling of how a Kansas minister ruffled some feathers with his opening prayer for of the Kansas State Senate session. Stories on social media more times than not require a reader to dig a little deeper into the topic at hand if you want to find the truth of the matter. That was the case for this article.
Now this story could have easily led any reader to believe that this was a recent happening, but after closer review, and a little research, I found that this happened on January 23, 1996. The prayer was delivered by Minister Joe Wright of Wichita, Kansas, and the opening prayer was given before the opening session of the state house rather than the senate.
After a little research, I found that this matter was covered way back when by one of my favorite media personalities, the late, great Paul Harvey. The fact that Harvey covered this story intrigued me even more as I can vividly remember from my youth hearing that famous catch line of his, “and now you know the rest of the story.”
This prayer caused quite the stir when Minister Wright first delivered it, and it would seem that it is again making its rounds because of the sharp double-edged sword that is social media. After receiving severe backlash from many non-believers and groups supported by them Reverend Wright had this to say, “I certainly did not mean to be offensive to individuals, but I don’t apologize for the truth.”
Here are the words from the prayer that was delivered that day in 1996, and you may find that much of its content still rings true today.
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says: "Woe to those who call evil good", but that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have embezzled public funds and called it essential expenses.
We have institutionalized bribery and called it sweets of office.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh GOD, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!"
I have been wanting to write an article that some how included Paul Harvey. Mainly because of the fond memories I have of listening to him and enjoying his story telling even from a young age. I can remember my father saying, “that Paul Harvey sure can tell a story.” When I found that these two subjects intersected, I had to write about a great man while putting forth this prayer that I believe says a whole lot even today.
Just remember, when you’re reading or hearing anything on the Internet, social media or todays biased main stream media always take the time to look for “the rest of the story.”
