"I prayed for you" (page 8)

Lady Lee

I tend to tell people "I'll be thinking of you" or I'll send good thoughts your way.

But when people say it to me it really depends on who is saying it and how religious they are. Hmmm the more religious they are the stronger my negative reaction

BrendaCloutier

I am a non-diest. I now consider myself agnostic because I believe in a god-entity, but this entity is not a diety to be prayed to nor worshipped.

However, in my spiritual explorations I have seen too much to disregard the power of the "spiritual" connection we all have to eachother and the universe.

When I say I will include you in my prayers, that is a more conventional method of conveying that I have requested the universes' blessings on so-and-so. The power of prayer, on the pray-er and pray-ee are too powerful to be overlooked.

Example:

A co-worker who had similar spirituality that I had at the time (I've advanced in many ways) told me that her parents were having their 50th wedding anniversary. She wanted to go for her mom, but her dad had molested her when she was young, and her son! She wanted to go for her mom, but she just didn't want to "deal" with her dad.

I suggested she go ahead and "act as if". Research flight information, schedule vacation, hold of on $$ for 1 week. In the interim, each night between now and the party pray "god bless my dad" and only those words. Surprisingly, she did.

In a week she felt it appropriate to go ahead and buy her tickets and further her arrangements for the visit. She continued to pray "god bless my dad".

At the party just before it started, she told her dad that his makeup needed fixed and took him into the kitchen to help him repair it (he's dying of cancer). In the empty kitchen, her dad broke down and cried and confessed to everything he had done to her and her son and begged for her forgiveness.

She was able to say to him "dad, I've already forgiven you".

mnb77

Okay, coming at this from a different view point, I believe in the Trinity thing and I have a catholic friend. When ever he tells me " I said a rosary for you, or any family member I have had trouble with" it kinda weirds me out. I mean I don't believe praying to mary or any of the "saints" helps me i just figure I'll talk to the creator of it all and work stuff out.

I dunno, I guess I sort of understand you issue, Oh well i think they all mean good and it takes a weight off their shoulders by saying a prayer or a rosary. Then they don't have to do anything else to help you.. Just speculation though...

mnb77

Scully

Oh well i think they all mean good and it takes a weight off their shoulders by saying a prayer or a rosary. Then they don't have to do anything else to help you..

Yes, I can see it from that point of view too. After all if one has dumped all the responsibility on "god" to help someone else instead of doing something constructive or tangible oneself, I guess one might want some way to soothe one's guilt over it or rationalize that one has "god's" permission to do nothing more.

BrendaCloutier

Scully, I'll pray for you.....

. . . - - - . . . . . . - - - . . . . . . - - - . . .

S O S

(you can slap me later)

Terry

Praying for god to lead them; guide them; help them....if

Free choice is free CHOICE. Choice would surely come from information. Information comes from whatever source you have chosen to listen to (and that implies you are turning your back on what is not listened to.)

But, God is either pulling strings attached to us or there are no strings and He is a cheerleader.

Who is making the decisions that take our life from Point A to Point B?

WE ARE!

Where is God in this loop?

1.I make choices which will have consequences of impact

2.The impact of my choices ends badly for me.

3.Somebody prays and asks God to help me, guide me, etc.

4. ?

5.My next step is my next step through choice and the consequences are the result of that decision.

Does god in some way act to change cause and effect at #4? This is unjust. Justice would be allowing somebody the effect of their own causes. Getting what you deserve is justice.

But, you may say, "What about an accident that brings injury; or, what about cancer ?"

If god intervenes he is still either unplugging the world as he made it or he is playing favorites in which case there is no justice here either. Why? Justice is blind (i.e. Impartial). Treating one person with a different set of scales from another is abominable and unjust.

I would posit that there is simply No premise in this world for god to do anything.

And.....

As I have said before, if you are praying for somebody (and the prayers are useless) what are you actually accomplishing? Nothing. It is an empty gesture that has the trappings of actual effort. That is fraud.

Me: Ohhhh, my mother is dying of cancer; I'm so worried."

Religious person:" I'll engage in an empty gesture that carries the trappings of actual effort on her behalf."

Me: "Oh thank you for your honesty."

Terry

Scully

Brenda:

Scully, I'll pray for you.....

While you're down on your knees... would you mind washing my kitchen floor??

Princess

Terry, that was some of the funniest stuff I've seen you write. Thanks for making me laugh.

Ross said:

I have no problems at all when folks pray for me. I think it's very kind.
Just because I hold myself to that standard, I'm not ignorant of the fact that others have differing standards. I do find it strange that some would actually be offended by it, but that's their standard, too.

I'm curious how you would feel if someone did the chalk circle/goat's blood offering (mentioned back on the first page) in your name. Then they proudly told you about it. Would you just think it's really kind or would it make you uncomfortable?

I personally don't believe God cares very much about our daily lives. I would really get irritated if my kids thanked me for every crumb I gave them every day and then constantly asked me to help them with things they could really work out for themselves if they only tried. But, I'm a hopeless case who doesn't have anyone offering to pray for me anymore, although I think I have a few who try without telling me.

I also feel like the offer to pray is condescending. I am so turned off by religion that it actually makes me kind of mad when people suggest such things. Probably why no one offers anymore.

Steve does still pray at dinner. He wants the kids to see that you can talk to God and it doesn't have to be formal. He normally thanks God for the vegetables that mommy keeps making even though we all hate them. Or he'll ask forgiveness for Zoe's burp.

LittleToe

Rachel:
Hiya

I'm curious how you would feel if someone did the chalk circle/goat's blood offering (mentioned back on the first page) in your name. Then they proudly told you about it. Would you just think it's really kind or would it make you uncomfortable?

I don't have any problem with pagans and Wicca, etc. I would take it in a similar way to someone who said they had payed for me (which they basically did, but in their own way).

That having been said, I might be concerned for the poor goat. Also, I would have to question what had been asked for, for me, by someone involved in that kind of incantation. The few times anyone "left hand path" has been involved in my life, it's been detrimental (a true story).

I personally don't believe God cares very much about our daily lives. I would really get irritated if my kids thanked me for every crumb I gave them every day and then constantly asked me to help them with things they could really work out for themselves if they only tried.

I think in a similar way, to that, too (though I do think there's a level of "care" involved). This may be one reason I perhaps offer a quick "ta", and generally try to help myself before I implore my deity of choice.

But, I'm a hopeless case who doesn't have anyone offering to pray for me anymore, although I think I have a few who try without telling me.

If it wouldn't offend, I'd pray for ya. But I wouldn't do it without your permission. Hopeless??? Nawww!!!

I also feel like the offer to pray is condescending. I am so turned off by religion that it actually makes me kind of mad when people suggest such things. Probably why no one offers anymore.

So prayer is synonymous with religion?
I don't see it that way - it's far too personal for that - welcome to my paradigm
You may well have highlighted the reason for lack of offers, though

Steve does still pray at dinner. He wants the kids to see that you can talk to God and it doesn't have to be formal. He normally thanks God for the vegetables that mommy keeps making even though we all hate them. Or he'll ask forgiveness for Zoe's burp.

LOL, that's so cute

Regards to the family.
You're all a great bunch of guys, and I love you all lots!!!
I'm glad Stanley is getting to see so much

diamondblue1974

I would normally be quite flattered should anyone have said this in the past especially given the normally this is a genuine sentiment; however I was in the supermarket the other week and happened to come across someone I knew when I was a dub and they spoke to me...(unlike some more recently) and when i was a dub we didnt have that much to do with each other so was quite shocked when she actually spoke to me and quite impressed that she had taken the effort to ask how i was keeping.

At the tail end of the conversation she said those immortal words...'I've been praying for you'.... it struck me as odd to be honest given we hadnt spoken in near on 8 years. So I asked when she had prayed...and what she had prayed about...I swear I havent seen someone look so uncomfortable in all my life and whilst i felt a little guilty for not being gracious and polite it struck me that this sentiment is overused especially so when people have clearly not been praying for you and like this lady would have had no need to pray for you.

If people are genuine then alls well but when they arent like always this is bloody annoying and a completely superfluous comment to make.

DB74

"I prayed for you"

Share this