On human goodness despite religion, and prayers unanswered.

[struggle4progress]

1. The Education of Ruby Nell

I was born in Mississippi in 1954, the oldest child of Abon and Lucille Bridges. That year the United States handed down its landmark decision ordering the integration of public schools ... We moved to New Orleans, where my father found work as a service station attendant ... In the spring of 1960 I took a test, along with other black kindergarteners in the city, to see who would go to an integrated school come September ... I would be going to William Frantz alone ... "The marshals will take good car of you, Ruby Nell," Mama assured me. "Remember, if you get afraid, say your prayers. You can pray to God anytime, anywhere. He will always hear you" ...
http://www.rubybridges.com/story.htm

... From her window, Mrs. Henry always watched me walk into school. One morning when I got to our classroom, she said she’d been surprised to see me talk to the mob. “I saw your lips moving,” she said, “but I couldn’t make out what you were saying to those people” ... I told her. “I was praying for them.” Usually I prayed in the car on the way to school, but that day I’d forgotten until I was in the crowd. Please be with me, I’d asked God, and be with those people too. Forgive them because they don’t know what they’re doing”...
http://www.orucc.org/2012/faith-at-the-crossroads-ruby-bridges-preached-by-winton-boyd