시민행정신문 김지은 기자 |  Every day, we pass through a landscape of fierce words and division. Politics puts more weight on blame than responsibility, and those who are called leaders only talk about ‘strategies’ to defeat their opponents rather than the people.

In the midst of this, I say, “This is a time when prayer is needed.” However, true prayer is not a monologue to heaven, but a heart attitude for our neighbors, and it should be the starting point of practice to reflect on my thoughts and actions for someone other than myself.

Prayer is ‘courage’ for the weak. Even at this moment, someone is collapsing because they can’t eat, giving up their life because they can’t afford hospital bills, and quietly closing their eyes amid discrimination and prejudice. We say that we pray for them.

However, isn’t that prayer just a noise that we shout with our lips while ignoring our responsibility for neglecting the structure that created them? Prayer should be the essence of politics. Politics is a public responsibility for the entire community.

Then, the first thing that politicians need is a ‘praying heart.’ Prayer is the sensitivity to humble oneself and feel the pain of others as if it were one’s own. But what about the current political world? They are busy fighting and slandering each other, shouting that only their words are right.

Rather than silent prayers for the people, there are more verbal bombs aimed at political opponents. Politics without prayer ultimately becomes politics without the people. Prayer is a decision for others. Prayer is not an ‘escape’ where one does nothing. Prayer is a decision to first embrace the pain of the other person.

On that night when we passed a homeless person and turned a blind eye to the despair of a young man, we asked ourselves, “Could I have said a kind word or done something to him?” Prayer is an attitude of taking responsibility for that question. That is why people who pray do not easily hate. They do not easily judge or give up. This is because prayer is a training to cherish people. What the political world needs now is ‘praying leadership.’

Prayer is not the exclusive property of the clergy. True prayer is revealed through life. The political world now needs ‘praying leaders’ who feel the suffering of the people as if it were their own, and take responsibility for it with actions rather than words. Those who only think about their own interests do not know how to pray.

Prayer is the ‘heart that saves us,’ so it cannot be combined with the ‘desire to live only for myself.’ Prayer is peace, harmony, and the beginning of humanity. Prayer asks those who always call out the people, “Do you really have a heart for the people?”

Prayer is not a declaration. It is a quiet solidarity that shares the suffering of others. And when that prayer gathers, we can move forward on the path to true peace and harmony.

Finally, to all of us. Prayer is ultimately ‘the attitude of my heart for someone else.’

If we pray sincerely, our actions will change before our words. And that change must begin in the political world. Power without prayer becomes hypocrisy, and politics without prayer only increases conflict.

Now is the time to become a politics of prayer, citizens of prayer, and a society of prayer. Because that is the only way to save us all.