Don’t put much stock in self-serving prayer rallies

Jesus Christ was crystal clear on the matter of prayer. He not only taught us what to pray for vide the Lord’s Prayer but also how to pray. He emphasised discretion.

The book of Mathew records His instructions thus; “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words”. (New International Version).

On the strength of this criterion, set by Jesus Himself, it’s safe to conclude that what went down in Kuresoi last weekend was well off the gold standard. It is highly unlikely the “prayers” reached our creator.

It was hardly humble; the event had been billed as “the mother of all prayers”. Reports indicate actual praying lasted only about 30 minutes while Politics dominated the rest of the proceedings before they were cut short by heavy rain, a clear sign that the Lord had heard enough.

My brother and Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen was one of the most vocal at the prayer rally. He was in a most unique position to guide his Kalenjin brethren on this matter. He is a strong Christian, or at least he was during our campus days having chaired the Christian Union back then, and must surely have come across the insightful teachings of the Lord on matters of prayer. He is also a trained lawyer expected to exude learnedness.

When he spoke, however, neither his legal training nor his staunch Christianity shone through. According to him, “The case is not against Ruto and Sang. It is now against the whole community. The evidence that is being re-admitted profiles the whole Kalenjin community as murderers, thugs and gangsters”. Apart from the fact that such utterances can hardly be construed as prayer, they also cannot be the product of an agile and engaged legal mind.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it is impossible for any court to find an entire community guilty. Even when heinous crimes are committed, as they were during the holocaust, it was individuals who were prosecuted, not communities. It has apparently escaped some people’s comprehension that the ‘prayer rallies’ amount to grave interference in the ongoing ICC cases and that such posturing actually makes matters worse for the accused.

There are some who genuinely don’t know better, but the learned Senator, my senior, only feigns ignorance. He does know better, but such is our political landscape that learned men accept to hoard literacy to gain political currency. It is always sad to encounter ethnic miasma emanating from higher minds that have repressed reason.

If I were Kalenjin I would be genuinely offended at these shameless attempts to incorporate me and my community wholesale into matters that only a few individuals know about.

What is worse, those of us who won’t babble and shout like the pagans and hypocrites Jesus was talking about have now come under attack with our “silence” being viewed suspiciously. We all say prayers but what we seek for from our respective deities is our prerogative. You cannot force your prayer items on another.

The ICC cases have played out publicly and even lay men have come to appreciate that the prosecution is having difficulties. A robust push back from the very able defence team should see the cases crumble. What the suspects don’t need are these loud political blackmail rallies coated with the flimsiest of religious veneers.