God answers prayers. I have been in impossible situations of my own doing, and a few minutes after a panicked “hail Mary” prayer I have seen the sky lighten and been engulfed in a kind of peace. The spiritual is not “magic thinking.” It is dealing with a force of Nature.
Faith in prayer takes years to develop, but for the reverent citizen, it is worth it. There are times when we fear a panicked weakling position more than anything else in the world, and we have a God who protects us from that. This does not mean Jesus is a mounted knight to save us from ill-conceived ventures; we must develop our own serious judgment ability.
Our Anglo-Saxon departure of good-bye is a shortened version of the Old English “God be wi’ ye”, an admonition to stay devout and sober.
Civilization 