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Shanna Flowers is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.

Shanna Flowers

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On this New Year's morning, a moment of silence please.

Prayer, it seems, is too much of a political hornet's nest.

Vice Mayor Sherman Lea has decided to remove his name from the list of ministers who pray before the Roanoke City Council.

The reason? He caused a dustup up by obliquely referring to Jesus Christ in a prayer earlier this month.

That prompted an e-mail that threatened a lawsuit if the "illegal" and "offensive" use of sectarian prayer happened again.

Rather than temper or sanitize his religious beliefs, Lea, a minister, said he'll no longer offer to ask for divine oversight for those conducting city business.

I understand Lea's decision. Prayer is talking to God. If Lea feels he might go "off cue" in his conversation with the Lord, he's doing best by refusing to lead a prayer. That way, he doesn't feel compromised, and no one feels offended.

As a Christian, I'm indifferent to prayers before public meetings. My indifference has nothing to do with freedom of speech, separation of church and state or any of the other political hot buttons.

My issue is one of practicality.

When I attend a public meeting, it's usually for work. My mind isn't focused on nor my heart attuned to spiritual matters. I'm thinking about the logistics of how to carry out my assignment.

As one who prays several times daily, I'm in the habit of sending up my timbers in the private sanctuary of my mind -- not in council chambers as Mayor David Bowers prepares to call a vote on the consent agenda.

That said, government prayer is a prickly issue.

A federal court of appeal in July upheld a lower court ruling against a Baptist minister who gave a sectarian prayer before the Fredericksburg council. The minister wants to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Although the prayer issue seems to have gained momentum over the years, it's certainly nothing new. As a high school sophomore more than 30 years ago, I was asked to pray at a high school function.

My teacher gave me guidelines. I typed out my prayer, and the teacher viewed it beforehand and went over it with me. One of my classmates teased me for "reading" a prayer, something that in my spiritual tradition is supposed to be spontaneous and heartfelt.

Lea made the right decision for him. Uttering a prayer that would feel to him compromised would border on meaningless.

And prayer should be meaningful.