Letter of the Day - The power of prayer THE EDITOR, Sir: IN A recent letter to the Editor, Ms. Barbara Ellington describes the New Dawn Movement's call to observe a moment of two-minutes silence, in prayer, to herald a new beginning for Jamaica as an "empty gesture." Now, I know that as a nation we are self-destructing rapidly, but, in God's name, when did we come to this, that to pray is now described as an "empty gesture". I could understand if Ms. Ellington was questioning the sincerity of those who prayed (and only God can answer that), but to say that as a nation we should cease to pray - then we are truly doomed. You see, prayer reflects faith and faith is what hope is built on. For the benefit of Ms. Ellington, the many across the island (including tourists holidaying here), who responded to the call, were first of all symbolising a call for commitment and, secondly, were praying for a miracle, because Jamaica needs a miracle. They were not expecting a miraculous transformation to take place in the minds and hearts of men overnight, but as Norman Vincent Peale explained, all miracles commence with prayer - you "prayerise, then visualise and then actualise." I imagine, had Ms. Ellington witnessed Daniel praying in the Lions' Den, she'd have described it similarly, however, someone, somewhere, heard his prayers and the rest is history. So, for the information of Ms. Ellington, we are all in the Lions' Den and the 'lions' are homeless, unemployed and hungry. Prayers alone will not do it - but it must start with prayers, because, until one believes in what one seeks to achieve, one is doomed to failure. I personally believe in the power of prayer because my life is replete with instances where prayers, especially those of my mother, have availed me, and, were we to attempt to identify one of the main factors contributing to general breakdown besetting the society, it would be the fact that, increasingly, we have ceased to communicate with, and believe in our God, whomsoever we conceive him to be. I am, etc., HOWARD HAMILTON, Q.C. Public Defender
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