At 11:50 one morning during Holy Week the air-raid siren in Emporia, Kans. blared. A customer in Granger's Ready-to-Wear store said, "Oh, that prayer whistle"; a clerk clasped an Easter bonnet like a prayer book, bowed her head. Outside, car drivers pulled over to the curb. In a nearby pool hall the click of billiard balls stopped as the players stood self-consciously silent.
All during Lent, urged on by the town's 30 churches (membership: 6,500), Emporia's wartime siren had called townsmen to a daily "Sweet Minute of Prayer" for "a just and lasting peace." At first, the siren had been heeded chiefly...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
