One nation under God, with justice for all

When candidate George W. Bush was asked in a presidential debate to name who had the greatest philosophical influence on him, he said, "Jesus," and much of the media elite laughed at him or, worse, denigrated him as shallow. This column is not to castigate some of the media for the perspective that Jesus was not worth citing as a serious philosopher, although such criticism would be fair. Instead, I prefer to draw attention to how our country has responded to adversity, and how our religious president has risen to lead us.

In this land where civil libertarians have long protested the words contained in our national anthem, "one nation, under God," as well as the phrase emblazoned on our coin, "In God we trust," something miraculous has happened. We have, in fact, become one nation, under God, trusting Him to bring us liberty, justice and peace.

Together, we, in many religions, have knelt in prayer, and together we have lifted our voices to sing hymns. At baseball games, instead of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," we sing "God Bless America." Even the hardest men battle back tears at the sound.

So why is it that, shut out of public life for decades, public prayers have returned to help our nation heal?

It is because, simply, prayer works.

In it, power resides, God is felt, and anxiety diminishes. Prodded from our comfortable self-absorption by an unimaginable act, we need all of those.

At the Show Me Center on Thursday night, several thousand turned out to pray together. There were Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Jews. Candles were lit and spirit filled the room. It was humbling, heart-touching, sad and inspirational. Then came the transition: from prayer, to listening to our president, who stood steely-eyed and resolute before the Congress.

There is something comforting about knowing we have a president who turns to prayer for strength and healing. With him it is not an act, the manipulative machinations of a political consultant or some poll; instead, it is something deep within.

Derided as a candidate as shallow; he has turned out to be humble. Derided as simple; he has turned out to be credible. There are lessons here for all of us. Character counts, and spiritual belief strengthens.

At the Show Me Center, the crowd turned its attention seamlessly from local ministers to a big screen TV for the president's address to the nation. Across the country in Philadelphia, in another sports arena, the fans at an NHL exhibition game chanted for the game to stop so they, too, could hear President Bush speak.

What happened is that between periods, during the normal 20-minute break, the hockey stadium officials had begun broadcasting the speech into the arena. When the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers returned to take the ice, the crowd began chanting "Leave it on." Crowd and players alike watched together until the speech's end. Many prayed. They all cheered for the president.

Undoubtedly, religion can be misused and perverted. Among the worst transgressions certainly must be using its holy rhetoric to incite earthly goals that do not honor its spirit -- in effect, putting another god before God. Ironically, the attack upon our land came from zealots who had succumbed to the perversion of a peaceful religion to false goals in just that way. There is a warning in that irony for all of us -- for all people -- but for now, that is a smaller concern in this country.

Hard days are before us, the president made that clear. Our spirit, unity and faith will be challenged. If we remain one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, there is no question, however, who will prevail.

Jon K. Rust is co-president of Rust Communications.