MANIFOLD indeed is the power of prayer. This pandemic has made this crystal clear. As key to our mental well-being, prayer reduces anxiety and stress. It animates our hope. Since prayer connects us with God, prayer serves as a powerful tool for helping us successfully cope with stressful experiences. https://mindspirit.com/psychological-power -prayer/ A study published in the American Psychological Association June 2011,Vol.42, No.6 found that “saying a prayer when angry can help to reduce one’s feelings of anger.” It regulates our emotions. The researchers theorized that prayer can help us reflect on our experiences and change how we think and feel about an event.” https://www.apa.org/ monitor/2011 /06/prayer

Why prayers for school meetings? Pandemic times or not, virtually or physically, when we, school members, gather for a meeting and begin and end the meeting with a prayer, there’s a feeling of a different atmosphere. Besides a sense of connection to God, there’s, too, a sense of authentic unity among us in the meeting. The school need not be faith-based. It doesn’t matter how our faith calls the Supreme Being, whether as Jesus, the Father, the Holy Spirit, Allah, Elohim or Jehovah. Praying together sends a strong assurance that together with whom we pray, we feel to truly belong to the same school, which we often refer to as “family.” Much more so in this pandemic — prayer opens our hearts and gives a sense of confidence in engaging us in the best interest of our stakeholders. About how best to discharge teaching and learning during this pandemic, prayer gives us a deep feeling of assurance that solutions could be best arrived at.