Wants Prayer To God For Rain
Wants Prayer To God For Rain
Some Unknown Person Sends Written Request For Publication. Asks Ministers And Priests To Have Bells Tolled At That Time
Eau Claire Leader | July 5, 1910
The following unique request, written with pencil and by an unknown person, came to the Leader office and although it was received too late for Sunday’s paper, it is given now. We have had no rain since Sunday so that the request is not too late please put in large print and place to be easily seen, in Sunday’s paper only –July 2, 1910: “Will the brothers and sisters in Christ, all unite in prayer, either in their homes or in the churches tomorrow, at 2 o’clock to God, to send us rain and let the ministers and priests see that the bells are tolled in the churches at that hour. IN JESUS’ NAME, WE ASK IT.” “P.S. Please send a copy to all the ministers and priests in Eau Claire.” The above was not signed. It is not too late to take action. For the past week or more, prayers have been offered in the majority of the churches asking for rain. At Nearly every service, prayers with this request were offered.
Chad’s Take: No God -– No Rain, Know God- – Know Rain.
I would have truly enjoyed being in church during this service. I can just imagine the priest or minister asking the people to bow their heads in prayer as they pray for world peace or an end to hunger and disease. Then as a final note, it is requested that prayers be sent out in hopes for rain in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I am not sure if prayers are similar to numbers at a deli and get answered in the order they are received, but if prayers get answered based on urgency, this prayer would certainly have shot to the front of the line.
Of course I am being a bit facetious with my remarks. I do realize how important rain was during a time when nearly fifty percent of the country’s population was involved in farming. I also realize that if your crops failed you couldn’t simply run over to Chicken Unlimited and grab a family meal (a real shame). Yet even though I know how hard life was back then I am still a little perplexed by this article. Was it really a reasonable request from a concerned citizen, or just another strange character of Eau Claire making their presence known. I guess I will have to remain divided on this one. However, I will impart with you something my father used to tell me when he was alive, that always brought some clarity to me. He would say “If you see me while you are in church, you must be sitting by the window.”
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