In Dow we trust

The Lord’s Prayer. Hail Mary. Kol Nidre.

When it comes to prayers, there are a few standard names that have stood out for untold ages as the staples of religious liturgies. But when we reach a point where we’re invoking the “blessed Master of credit derivatives,” have things gone too far?

Late last month the Church of England, in an attempt to provide the faithful with some sense of direction and hope in midst of the worsening financial crisis, published a “Prayer for the Current Financial Situation,” or as the Times Online has dubbed the piece, “Lead Us Not into Liquidation.”

The Web site where the prayer is posted also includes debt advice and money-saving tips, downloadable resources for household budgeting and relevant case studies to use as models for concerned laypeople.

Does this seem wrong? Sacrilegious?

Maybe the concept and scope of the prayer are somewhat non-traditional, but let’s face it, we’re facing a pretty nasty, unprecedented mess right now. People are looking for coping mechanisms, and as the Dow drops, we have limited options.

Panic has, in the past, induced such not-so-proud events in history, including runs on the banks and total anarchy.

With everything in its current state of flux, religious institutions can play a huge role as a source of comfort and stability to the very unsure, very confused masses.

Maybe this new publication is more legitimate than it seems. Prayers don’t write themselves. They came from somewhere, and canons of most religious texts went through a filtering and sorting process before they were adopted as the standard.

Just because whoever within the ranks of the Church of England formulated the prayer doesn’t have a crazy name like Zaccheus or Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t mean he or she isn’t qualified to make available a divine entreaty for public use. In fact, the whole debt counseling site is seen as such an asset that it has received the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

As a side-note, seeing the willingness of religious institutions to adopt text that pertains to relevant societal concerns, I submitted my own “Prayer for Midterm Survival” to the Pope and was a bit disappointed when he rejected it. Then again, I’m not Catholic, and I’m sure his inbox is overflowing, so I probably should have expected this result.

By now I’ve accepted the fact that my composition, as worthy as it may be, will probably never be included in the standard liturgy of any of the major religions.  
In light of this rejection, I’ll admit that there does have to be some kind of filter on what is construed as a broad concern of society, and my statistics exam is probably not one of them.

However, as ridiculous as it seems to have an economic panic attack copy-pasted into relevancy by the Anglican Church’s webmaster, societal support in times of crisis is rarely a bad thing.

Besides, considering that our entire financial system is based upon consumer confidence, the prayer is fulfilling an important role both spiritually and socially.
Where’s the harm in that?