Short Dramas and Plays

Prayer in the Automated Age

by Terry Barlow
11/16/20
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"Pastor, I think I have a great idea!"
"Let's hear it."
"I've called you and the deacons to my house because I'm so excited about it."
"Its our pleasure, it's the first time we've ever been here or seen your house actually."
"I know, sorry about that. So it's about time and I couldn't think of a better occasion than this. I'll get right to the point."
"Please do," said one of the deacons, "we're eager to hear."  As the other deacons and the pastor nodded their heads.
"You know how society has animated so many jobs, right? 
So why can't we in the church harness this trend to serve our needs and goals?"
"What do you mean?" Asked another deacon.
"Well, you know how hard it has been for us to schedule a prayer meeting and have anyone attend it. So let's research together and assemble some of the great prayers of church history beginning, of course, with the Lord's prayer. If each of us finds five that's enough to start. Once we've collected them we can gather to record them on one CD each in his own voice recording the prayers he collected.
"What do we do with that?" Another deacon asked.
"It's simple, we play the CD in the sanctuary continuously through the week when we're not here in the building. We can even mix in a favorite hymn each of us acapella for effect. It would be 24 × 7 round the clock like the tabernacle of David, wasn't it, Pastor? (Pastor nods) So what do you guys think? Automated prayer, man! What took us so long to think of it!?"The host's wife who has been quietly listening to all this in the background adds dryly, "We might as well automate, our prayers are so mechanical most of the time anyway."  (Blank stares.....long silence)

"Can we get back to you on that?" Pastor answers.