Tomorrow is the 64th National Day of Prayer, one of those rare occasions when people from different backgrounds unite for a cause.
Services are scheduled throughout Northwest Florida, including Crestview, DeFuniak Springs, Milton, Niceville and Santa Rosa Beach, among others. (Read more about Crestview's observance.)
This year's theme is "Lord, Hear Our Cry." Oh, isn't there plenty to cry about, too.
One recent example is the Baltimore riots, which show we are not living in a so-called post-racial society, though some in the media and throughout our country jumped to that conclusion with President Barack Obama's election and re-election.
As you probably know, Freddie Gray was a 25-year-old black man who reportedly received injuries to his neck and spine while being transported in a police vehicle after his April 12 arrest. Baltimore residents protested April 18 after Gray fell into a coma. He died April 19.
Peaceful protest included a march from Baltimore City Hall to Inner Harbor, but acts soon turned violent, including pelting police with rocks, burning buildings and vehicles, and looting, according to news reports.
Gray's death followed a year of deaths that many people feel could have been prevented, including Michael Brown's in Ferguson, Mo.; Eric Garner's in Staten Island, N.Y.; and Tamir Rice's in Cleveland, Ohio.
"Black Lives Matter" marches popped up across the U.S., including the Okaloosa County NAACP's December gatherings in Crestview and Fort Walton Beach.
Yes, this is one example where prayer could help. (At least, it couldn't hurt.)
After all, if Baltimore's violent protesters folded their hands and meditated on perceived injustice, as opposed to destroying their own city and its morale, they might have found constructive solutions.
In cases like these, violence is never the answer, particularly since "the enemy" — police, for instance — may include many people who are not racist.
Amid all this destruction came a voice of reason, namely from Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson.
"… How do you react when something is wrong?" he said in an interview with GQ Magazine shortly after the riots. "If you have an unpleasant experience with a plumber, do you go out and declare a war on all plumbers? Or teachers or doctors? Of course not. And it makes no sense to do that with police either."
Common sense isn't exclusive to religious and spiritual citizens. I imagine that many people who don't believe in God, those who celebrated Openly Secular Day on April 23, for instance, would agree with Carson.
But one of the reasons we celebrate National Day of Prayer is because prayer, when done right, comes completely from a place of peace.
Forget the Crusades and jihads that give faith a bad name. The truth is that prayer, done right, comes completely from a place of peace.
Let's remember that tomorrow, and whenever perceived social injustice strikes us.
What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: BONI: Prayer, done right, comes from peace