On Sept. 11, much of our nation observed a moment of silence to remember the victims of the terrorist attacks 11 years earlier and their families.

Some states have mandated that a moment of silence be observed every morning in their public schools. There even is a moment-of-silence organization that promotes world peace.

For the most part, these moments of silence have replaced moments of prayer after prayer in public schools was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Since that time, more and more public institutions have gone to moments of silence in fear of threatened lawsuits.

One thing that always has intrigued me is the purpose of a moment of silence. The encyclopedia describes it as an expression of a time of contemplation, prayer, reflection or meditation for traditionally a minute in time. If you ask the average school student what they do during this time, they would tell you they do nothing.

I believe there can be a good purpose in it, and that it can be used for an opportunity to be of help to others in need. If all I do is reflect, it can help me to have a better awareness of problems in the world, but if I honestly pray, I can call upon God to meet specific needs. For instance, I can pray that the Lord will comfort the families that lost loved ones during 9/11. At school, I can pray to have the ability to concentrate and learn, that our school will be safe and for my teachers to be able to teach effectively.

As a Christian, I need to realize that no court ruling has ever prohibited prayer. I can have many moments of prayer during my day wherever I am at.