To the Editor:

“The Mystery of Prayer” (Newsweek, March 31, 1997) is just this: how did it come to pass that a majority of adult Americans have an imaginary Playmate? To pray is, as Ambrose Bierce put it, “to ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy.” You cannot petition the Lord with prayer. He has eternal call waiting.

Sincerely,
Bob Black