Prayer

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.

The Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council is scheduled to host a National Day of Prayer breakfast at 7 a.m. Thursday at the Costa Mesa Country Club, 1701 Golf Course Drive, according to a news release from the organization. Local government and religious officials plan to attend the breakfast, where David Levinson, the founder and executive director of “BIG SUNDAY,” is scheduled to give the keynote speech, according to the release. The cost for the event is $20 per person or $160 for a table of eight.

Doctors say Alexander Fedortchev has about a 50-50 chance of surviving. And that’s the good news. The bad news is that he needs aggressive treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which he was diagnosed with a little over a month ago. If he doesn’t get the treatment — and soon — his chances of survival decrease each day. But to get the treatment, he’ll need about $1 million. That sort of money doesn’t come easy to anybody, let alone an uninsured Russian immigrant whose monetary mainstay usually revolves around performing acrobatic acts for a variety of circuses, which has included Cirque du Soleil.

Muslims in Orange County and throughout the world will mark the end of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, with communal prayers and the celebration of “Eid ul-Adha,” or “festival of sacrifice” on Friday. The holiday commemorates Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God’s command and it is celebrated with prayers, gifts to children, distribution of meat to the needy and social gatherings. The communal prayer will be held Friday morning at local mosques.

It is not my job to persuade anyone of anything. Jesus said that my job is to love in such a way that my life is so compelling that others would want to live that life as well. Thatâ??s what He did, and that is what I try to do, not very good sometimes. So the proof is not intellectual, but relational. My only doubts are if I am truly able to love that way. Godâ??s love is so obvious. Someone said to me this morning there are too many colors for their not to be an artist. Ric Olsen Lead Pastor, The Beacon Though Iâ?

For the past five years, Temple Bat Yahm member John Bernstein has spent the day after the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur overseeing the distribution of several tons of food, which the congregation amasses each year in a large diesel truck outside the temple. “For the Jewish faith there is the requirement of ‘sedakah,’ essentially being your brother’s keeper and taking care of those who aren’t as well off as you are, and this food drive is really a part of that,” said Bernstein, who oversees the food drive.

Local children observed the most solemn High Holy Day of the Jewish year Monday with stories and songs. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a day of fasting, repentance and intense prayer for adult Jews. Upon their bar or bat mitzvah, Jewish youths join the adults in observing Yom Kippur. Tradition teaches that God uses a book on Rosh Hashana to list each person’s fate. That fate isn’t sealed until Yom Kippur. Before then, Jewish people seek forgiveness, both for things done against God and things done against other people.

When Kari Mashos takes the stage at the Regency Lido Theater this Saturday morning, she'll be tackling a fairly weighty issue: The Global Reach of Prayer. Mashos has been invited by the First Church of Christ, Scientist, to present her hour-long lecture, titled "Counteracting Terrorism- The Global Reach of Prayer," to the community at large. She explained in a pre-lecture meeting, though, that the talk won't be focused on the kind of terrorists you see on the news. Rather, she'll be exploring the ways prayer can overcome all kinds of terrorism-- the agents in our lives that inspire fear.

Before you read this column let?s have an understanding. I don?t expect anyone to believe a word I say. So I ask only one thing: Suspend your disbelief until you have read every word. Then believe whatever you choose. Let?s begin. Prayer is the only healing power. All else is the explanation and control of symptoms. Prayer is not begging God for relief or magic. Prayer is an act of authority, the kind of authority that reveals a truth inherent within every life created to set you free.

The 5-year-olds at Lil’ Lighthouse Preschool at Lighthouse Coastal Community Church in Costa Mesa bow their heads each afternoon to recite a simple prayer. “Thank you for our healthy bodies,” one line in the prayer goes. The children recite in unison, sitting on the carpet of the church chapel with red and blue book bags still strapped to their backs. The children ask daily about their absent classmate, Julian Dunn— a happy-go-lucky 5-year-old with an infectious smile who is interested in cars and loves to play with his friends, said Lil’ Lighthouse teacher Michelle Rieke.