To the Editor:

With our fair city’s attention being directed as it has been recently to crime in our community and what to do about it, I’d like to bring up an experiment done in 1993 in Washington D.C. to see if a group of meditators could have an effect on violent crime in that city.

A report of the results showed a significant decrease in violent crime, correlated to the number of people involved. (Go to the internet site

to get the details.)

Other experiments with prayer and its effect in crime prevention have also been done, for example

However, this one in Washington D.C. was the one which first caught my attention and has remained with me.

Suffice it to say that prayer and/or meditation has built a track record for effectiveness as a crime prevention tool.

This is significant to me because while I have not been called to a career in the justice system, I have been called to a life of daily prayer.

Many readers of this article could consider yourselves to be “People of The Book” who recognize the power of prayer.

I’m asking each of you to examine your hearts and consider joining me in daily prayer and/or meditation for Selma.

For the last several years one of my daily prayers has been … “I am but one, but I am one.

I can not do everything, but I can do something.

What I can do I ought to do.

What I ought to do, by the grace of God I will do.

Lord, what will You have me do?”

Last Sunday I realized I was being called to also meditate on a daily basis.

As I answered that call, I’ve come to realize Selma, as a community, is a special part of the reason for my call.

There is much greater power in our prayers when more than one person is praying and there is cooperation and unity of purpose.

So, I again ask you to examine your heart and consider joining me on a regular basis in prayer for Selma.

Consider committing to this one simple action to make a real difference in our community.

My Lord and my Creator, You ask us to love You with our whole heart, our whole mind, our whole soul and all our strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Forgive us our sins and lead us to reconcile with You and with each other.

Help us over come our fears and give us the courage to seek the peace and unity that come with reconciliation and seeking to do Your will every day.

Peggy Brown

Selma