National Day

Every day is a day of prayer. You can’t live a life devoted to God’s presence and not be connected to that presence as much as possible. Prayer is a commitment to surrender each day to God. I like the idea of prayer dedicated to our country and its citizens. But I can’t pray for the United States only. Every human is sacred or no one is sacred. In my way of prayer, I start by recognizing or rethinking God’s infinite and eternal presence. There is only God and nothing else.

Community members gathered at the footsteps of the Costa Mesa City Hall on Thursday to join in the National Day of Prayer. Eloise Ott of Praise Jam, a local musical group, played patriotic songs and encouraged everyone to sing along. “We invite people to bring their beach towels, their food and whatever they want to come here and enjoy this gorgeous day ...,” she said before the midday event. Most of those who gathered to pray for their country were Christian.

With the happenings in Boston and in West Texas fresh in our minds, the National Day of Prayer makes more sense than ever, says the Rev. Julie Elkins, president of the Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council and pastor at First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa. Different faiths will join "for common action in prayer" at 7 a.m. Thursday, May 2, 2013, at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, she says. The prayer breakfast will welcome clergy and members from a variety of faiths, including Jewish, Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Bahai, Sikh, Church of Jesus Christ, Latter-day Saints, First Church of Christ, Scientist, United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, Unitarians, Lutherans, Episcopal and UCI Interfaith.

Some have suggested that the National Day of Prayer, which was held Thursday, has taken on too much of a Judeo-Christian focus since the National Day of Prayer Task Force has organized it. The organization states on its website that the day of prayer is, "offered to all Americans, regardless of religion, to celebrate their faith through prayer. However, the efforts of the NDP Task Force are executed specifically in accordance with its Judeo-Christian beliefs." Are the National Day of Prayer activities inclusive enough?

Any sort of National Day of Prayer event should be as inclusive as possible. That's especially so in these dark times when so much killing is being done in the name of religion in Iraq. So it was heartening to see the Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council's National Day of Prayer breakfast last week feature such a broad spectrum of religious beliefs. As it has so often in the past, the council has flexed its ecumenical muscles and brought our local faithful together. We should all be proud to have such a fine, religiously tolerant organization in our community.

Newport Beach resident David Paine has lobbied for the last seven years to transform Sept. 11 into a national day of service after his friend’s brother died trying to help victims of the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. After years of campaigning, President Barack Obama is expected to sign the Serve America Act later this month, which would designate Sept. 11 as a national day of volunteerism. Paine is the co-founder of the online nonprofit group www.mygooddeed.

"Let there be no limit to what we take to God in prayer, so that there may be no limit to God's reign and rule in all of life." -- Roger Hazelton A friend of mine has a wooden plaque with the words "Life is fragile, handle with prayer" carved into it. I love that sentence because it reminds me not only to pray daily, but that there truly is power in prayer. That phrase made me think back to last spring when I participated in a National Day of Prayer ceremony.

Toward the end of March, with our nation at war, the Rev. Ignacio Castuera, pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in Watts, stood in the pulpit and told his congregation, "The most important and first thing we can do as a religious people is to go to our knees and pray." Thursday was a day that calls us, as a nation, to prayer. It was our annual National Day of Prayer. The tradition of setting aside a day for prayer is older than our nation.

Young Chang The nation, the poor, the suffering, global injustice. With prayer topics as heavy as these, it makes sense to pray in numbers, local religious leaders say. That's why next Thursday, people in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa will gather and pray with fellow congregants, even of different religions, for the National Day of Prayer. Don Baldwin, interim pastor at Newport Mesa Christian Center in Costa Mesa, said his congregation will join the center's Spanish-speaking community to pray in Spanish.

The Harbor Mesa Lions donated funds of more than $20,000 to various organizations in the community at a recent meeting. Twenty-eight representatives of these organizations were presented checks by President Gina Stansbury and Treasurer Eileen Jensen. The club raised money with a casino night, spaghetti dinner, bingo, by selling candy and ice cream, and having a garage sale.   NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER A number of congregations will celebrate the National Day of Prayer on May 7, but the Newport-Mesa- Irvine Interfaith Council will be offering one of the few events that will bring together clergy and members of more than 35 faith communities according to the Rev. Julie Elkins, council president and pastor at First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa.

With the happenings in Boston and in West Texas fresh in our minds, the National Day of Prayer makes more sense than ever, says the Rev. Julie Elkins, president of the Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council and pastor at First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa. Different faiths will join "for common action in prayer" at 7 a.m. Thursday, May 2, 2013, at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, she says. The prayer breakfast will welcome clergy and members from a variety of faiths, including Jewish, Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Bahai, Sikh, Church of Jesus Christ, Latter-day Saints, First Church of Christ, Scientist, United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, Unitarians, Lutherans, Episcopal and UCI Interfaith.

Maddie O'Connor and Annie Alvarado have known each other since they were 5 years old. They played AYSO together, then on rival club teams, before they reunited at Corona del Mar High. As the two prepare for the stretch run of their final season with the CdM girls' soccer team, they each made a big decision regarding their future after high school on Wednesday. In the next stage of their lives, they won't be on the same team. Alvarado and O'Connor still shared a special moment as they signed national letters of intent with the UCLA and UC Santa Barbara women's soccer programs, respectively.

Orange County beat its own record by reading to more than 21,000 young children - including at Costa Mesa's Metro Pointe - in October during a national day of shared reading. THINK Together and the Children and Families Commission of Orange Country participants read the "Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad" to 21,214 children up to 5 years old during Jumpstart's annual Read for the Record event Oct. 4 across Orange County. "Reading to children early and often has so many benefits that its importance can't be overstated," commission Chairwoman Sandra Barry said in a prepared statement.

Fasting might seem a grim topic in the midst of the Orange County Fair, beach picnics and the start of the Olympic Games. But highly observant Jews took part last weekend in Tisha B'Av, a 25-hour fast from food and drink to mark the destruction of the first and second Jewish temples (in 586 B.C. and A.D. 70) and, secondarily, the many other misfortunes that have befallen the Jewish people, especially the Holocaust. The other 25-hour fast for Jews is the more familiar Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur on Sept.

Every day is a day of prayer. You can’t live a life devoted to God’s presence and not be connected to that presence as much as possible. Prayer is a commitment to surrender each day to God. I like the idea of prayer dedicated to our country and its citizens. But I can’t pray for the United States only. Every human is sacred or no one is sacred. In my way of prayer, I start by recognizing or rethinking God’s infinite and eternal presence. There is only God and nothing else.

Community members gathered at the footsteps of the Costa Mesa City Hall on Thursday to join in the National Day of Prayer. Eloise Ott of Praise Jam, a local musical group, played patriotic songs and encouraged everyone to sing along. “We invite people to bring their beach towels, their food and whatever they want to come here and enjoy this gorgeous day ...,” she said before the midday event. Most of those who gathered to pray for their country were Christian.

Ahoy. The lightning and thunder are gone and it’s back to our June gloom for the weekend with drizzly mornings and the clouds burning off in the afternoons. The seas will be flat with a 2-foot westerly swell, and even Point Conception will only build to 3 feet. If you are planning to head uphill then now is the time to go north around Conception. This week Congress passed a resolution declaring July 1 as “National Boating Day.” Rep. Ron Klein (D-FL) and Henry Brown (R-SC)

The Harbor Mesa Lions donated funds of more than $20,000 to various organizations in the community at a recent meeting. Twenty-eight representatives of these organizations were presented checks by President Gina Stansbury and Treasurer Eileen Jensen. The club raised money with a casino night, spaghetti dinner, bingo, by selling candy and ice cream, and having a garage sale.   NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER A number of congregations will celebrate the National Day of Prayer on May 7, but the Newport-Mesa- Irvine Interfaith Council will be offering one of the few events that will bring together clergy and members of more than 35 faith communities according to the Rev. Julie Elkins, council president and pastor at First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa.

Newport Beach resident David Paine has lobbied for the last seven years to transform Sept. 11 into a national day of service after his friend’s brother died trying to help victims of the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. After years of campaigning, President Barack Obama is expected to sign the Serve America Act later this month, which would designate Sept. 11 as a national day of volunteerism. Paine is the co-founder of the online nonprofit group www.mygooddeed.

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday falls on Jan. 19 this year. So does National Popcorn Day. But don’t worry, they don’t have to conflict. You can celebrate Popcorn Day Jan. 17 and 18 at the Orange County Market Place on the Costa Mesa fairgrounds. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., a giant popcorn stilt walker will welcome shoppers, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday Kaptain Kernel, “The King of Korn” (no relation to the ’90s nu metal band) will entertain shoppers with “popcorn spill gags,” juggling and other trucks from his magic bag of popcorn.