I often wonder where I'll find enough time in the day to pray for myself, let alone for the world. Or whether praying for the resolution of global issues such as poverty and violence is too daunting a task. Yet, in New York City, a group of three to four Christian Scientists meet monthly in coffee shops and parks around the city to do just that. And they bring with them their copies of The Christian Science Monitor.
Participants in these meetings view the Monitor articles as a spiritual springboard for their prayers for the world. Their "Monitor Prayer Watch" meetings, as they call them, span a wide range of topics—everything from the economy to the weather—but focus specifically on issues that the Monitor highlights in its national and international news coverage. While the discussions flow freely about world events, they aim to uplift and inspire.
Jordan Van Niel, a young retail clothing store manager from Queens, New York, started the Monitor group last January as a way to meet other Christian Scientists and to share her thoughts about articles she was reading in the paper. She says the meetings have helped her to grow spiritually and to address the pressing issues of the day from a prayerful perspective, from the standpoint that God is Love and governs each of us compassionately, meeting every one of our needs.
