National Day of Prayer at SMU

Our daughter, Chelsea, a senior at Southern Methodist University, here in Dallas, attended a noonday gathering on campus in honor of the National Day of Prayer. Here's what she had to say about the gathering:

Last week I received an e-mail from SMU inviting students and faculty alike to assemble today at one of three on-campus gatherings in honor of the
National Day of Prayer. As I was on campus to turn in a project around
noon, and there was also a service at noon, I decided to attend and support
an extremely rare college activity that actually focused on God.

We met at the flagpole at the center of campus. I was disappointed to find
the small crowd that had gathered was less than twenty in number and
mostly faculty from the Theology department. There were several microphones
and speakers set up for the event and a video camera looked on as the head
chaplain stepped up to one of the mics. He welcomed everyone and thanked
us for coming, then proceeded to speak a little about the history of the
holiday. He then called up a senior from the vocal program to begin the
service by singing "How Great Thou Art," acappella. You could hear the
student's majestic voice echoing through the campus, which enticed several
more people to stop and listen.

Then the chaplain allowed a moment of silence for personal prayer. After
this, four different people were called on to read scriptures, after which
three prayers were given: the head chaplain prayed specifically for the
nation, another chaplain prayed for SMU, and the last prayed for the troops.
Their prayers were stronger and more inspiring than any I've heard in a very
long time. Then the same vocal student sang a powerful rendition of
"Amazing Grace," again acappella. In the second stanza, he substituted
"Praise God" for the standard lyrics, which I've never heard done before.
It was unbelievably moving.

Finally, the head chaplain gave the crowd a charge to live as Jesus lived
and give glory to God in all things. By the end, about 25 people had
gathered, and all of us were teary-eyed to say the least. I thanked two of
the chaplains afterward for planning such a wonderful service to commemorate
the National Day of Prayer. I wish all my family and friends had been there
to witness it.

I'm really glad I took the time out of studying for finals to support a
cause that hardly anyone else on campus paid attention to. Because SMU is a
private institution, we are blessed to have the freedom to pray at the
flagpole, broadcast scripture throughout the campus, and hear hymns being
sung that glorify God. Even the bell tower in our science building rang
with hymns today, such as "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." This would never
happen at a public campus, such as the one my brother attends. However,
judging from the turnout at the flagpole, I'm not sure
it would be missed.