Searching for comfort

COEUR d'ALENE - Oil spills, bomb threats, nuclear weapons and recession ... At this rate, sending a few more signals skyward surely can't hurt.

Roughly 200 people converged to send up queries for aid at the National Day of Prayer on Thursday.

Some there for the comfort of fellowship, some convinced they were changing the world with their presence, all seemed to have one unified hope: Relief for a country in tumult.

"It's easy to govern in easy days, but we're not in easy days," said Pastor Kurt Staeuble of the Coeur d'Alene Bible Church as he addressed the crowd. "Here we gather to pray, and that's really where we need to begin."

Coeur d'Alene resident Bryan Varney, 50, observed that the crowd this year dwarfed last year's.

People are searching for comfort, Varney said.

"They say there are no atheists in a fox hole," he said with a chuckle. "These are hard times. It's hard to believe there are any atheists in the banks."

He added that more showed up this year because of the recent threat to the Day of Prayer, as a federal judge ruled the day as unconstitutional for violating the ban on government-supported religion.

"I think the Christian people in America are a silent majority, and a vocal minority would like to drown that silent voice," Varney said. "We're here to say we may be quiet, but we outnumber you sometimes."

The Kootenai County event seemed to lean in favor of church mingling with state, with churchgoers gathering to pray on the steps of the Coeur d'Alene City Hall.

Likewise, Pastor Paul Van Noy of Candlelight Christian Fellowship recited quotes from some founding fathers lauding Christianity. The short sermons delivered by several local pastors interspersed psalms with prayers for President Barack Obama, state and federal officials and city council members.

"We pray you would give our legislators, House and Senate, that you give them wisdom from above," said Pastor Ron Hunter from the Coeur d'Alene Church of the Nazarene, which garnered shouts of "Amen!" from the crowd.

When the Christian bands delivered inspiring choruses, hands in the crowd rose as if by signal, and people swayed as they belted the words.

"Let the people on Sherman Avenue hear you!" one singer shouted into the microphone, and the volume swelled of people crooning "How Great is Our God."

Kurt Smith of Coeur d'Alene said he thinks the U.S. is in need of extra prayer right now.

"There's a lot of division in our country," said Smith, 53. "I hope our country could unite in seeking God. We need more love in our country."

Pat Miller, 70, said she believes the hundreds praying together will bring about tangible change, just as she believes when she prays on her own for her five children.

"God answers every prayer," the Coeur d'Alene woman said. "It might be 'yes,' it might be 'no,' it might be 'wait.' But he answers every prayer and it's always what's best to keep me in his will."

Miller sees the Day of Prayer as a demonstration that people still follow a higher power, she said.

"And to gather support for one another," she said. "I think when we talk to God, we're not strangers. We have a common bond. I could probably talk to anyone here, and they would only be strangers for the first few words."