Today is the National Day of Prayer, as mandated by Congress. And President Obama has made a wise, but unfortunate decision by not hosting any event in observance of the day. Whether hosting such an event is constitutionally justifiable or not, the President is correct that doing so could establish, in the hearts of many Americans, a preference for religion on the part of the most powerful office-holder in the nation.
On the other hand, it’s a shame that we are so polarized on this issue that the President cannot host an event which is entirely consistent with both his personal practice and that of the vast majority of our nation’s citizens. Not to mention that prayer, if not religion, is vital to the long-term health of any community.
No society has cultivated long-term success without nurturing in its members the ability to reflect and meditate on the most important issues of the day. And no society has maintained its strength without cultivating its citizens’ capacity for gratitude. Those two issues are what prayer is all about. And God need not be a part of that for all Americans, even if it is for most of us.
Perhaps the anxiety around this issue tells us more about who we are as a nation than it does about prayer though.

Perhaps we struggle over both a National Day of Prayer and the possibility of a White House event honoring it because we do not yet know how to have those events without trampling on the rights of those who pray differently or do not pray at all. But the fact that we are not able to accomplish these things does not make them bad ideas. It means that we have more work to do as a nation — work on the definitions of prayer and thanksgiving, and work on our ability to respect each other’s forms of ethical or spiritual reflection.
In fact, the way out of this needless bickering lies in combing the wisdom of those who support a National Day of Prayer and even a White House event with the legitimate concerns of those who oppose them. That could be accomplished by coming together over the value of thanksgiving and prayer WITHOUT God.
In Hebrew, the word for praying is a reflexive verb. It defines an internal conversation that one has with one’s self. To be sure, God has been a part of that conversation for most of those who pray. But the word itself proves that need not always be so.
Perhaps the wisdom of this ancient tradition could serve as a model for our nation as well. It would assure the freedom of conscience to which we are all entitled while cultivating the kind of heightened awareness from which we all could benefit.