I would like to feel more deeply the loss of Yassar Arafat, but it is not in me; however, that does not prevent me from praying for his soul and for rest and peace for him. May Shakespeare be wrong in this case,
"The evil men do lives after them,
the good is oft interr'd with their bones. . . "
May we see a change of heart, a change of path, a continuation of the struggle for identity in a way that allows the Palestinian people finally to achieve identity but not at the cost of another.
I find the death of well-known people to be a bit puzzling, praying-wise. In public liturgies and in private prayers world-wide, the souls of the famous dead are prayed for by name. The non-famous dead, not so much.
I don't say we shouldn't pray for the souls of the famous by name, and it's sort of by definition not possible to pray for the souls of the non-famous. But it does strike me as somewhat odd, the way things work out, since I doubt one person needs prayers more than another simply by virtue of his fame.
"...it's sort of by definition not possible to pray for the souls of the non-famous..."
...by name.
Dear Tom,
You make a really excellent point. And I do think about these things each time I post a prayer for a famous person who has just died. And I find myself in the same quandary. But given the legacy of this particular man, if he himself does not need the prayers, then perhaps their merits shall accrue to the whole region and to the people of Palestine. I don't know how or if God chooses to rework such prayers into other worthy projects.
Nevertheless, your initial point is a good one and one that often puzzles me.
On the other hand, I do know that I pray for those unknown to the world at large and known only peripherally to me as I come to hear about thiem. The famous benefit more in this regard by their fame.
shalom,
Steven