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Showing results for tags 'prayer'.
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Well, some beans got spilled today. Not all of them, but enough for the listener to know I’m taking my beans seriously. Eek!!! My parents don’t know I’m a non-delusional human an atheist. Anyhow, I was speaking with my mother on the phone. We are having an extended family drama, in which I am unable to participate fully for the thankful matter of being separated by considerable geography. The drama is still affecting me, but I try to keep a handle on my emotions as my mother fills me in. Today, I felt like being a little honest and pushing some buttons. We got onto the topic of prayer, with my life as an example. (She used to think I was a 'prayer warrior', although I have told her a million times I am not; so that's her last frame of reference.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Me: Oh, I saw what Aunt Mary put on Facebook. Mother: Oh brother. She should keep this off Facebook. Me: I know. She keeps asking people to pray. Like that’ll do any good! Mother: (Pause) But prayer does help. God just doesn’t answer the way we want sometimes. Me: Meh, not really. I mean, that's not been my experience. Suppose I’ve prayed, say, 3000 times for God to (lessen a symptom I am experiencing), and he has done absolutely nothing. Ever! I mean, it just seems kind of crazy that the Bible says he’s compassionate, but I certainly would not treat my daughter like this. I wouldn’t treat my dog like this. Not even a fly! ...I think I’m more compassionate than God. Mother: Well, you’re not. Me: You know, I spend my life alleviating the pain of others and trying to make the world a better place. I would do anything to advance that goal. I wonder why God just stands there with his arms folded? Mother: Well, he doesn’t. Me: Hm. That’s kind of what it feels like though, as I suffer myself. I mean, would you make another person suffer? Doesn’t the Bible say that we should not withhold good when it’s within our power to act? Geez, I don’t withhold good when it’s within my power to act. Mother: I just don’t understand why you’re so mad at God! Me: I’m not. I’m struggling to understand why what I read in my Bible is so incredibly different from what I am experiencing. It’s confusing, you know? Mother: Well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm not sure how this will work its way through the family telegraph. I hope it doesn't. But that's where I left it. That's enough fun for one day!
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From the album: UNCOPYRIGHTED GRAPHICS ALBUM
Actual conversation I had in response to my cousin's endless onslaught of Jesus icons. I couldn't resist the fun, so I am sure she will jump on something of mine at some point. And again, the laughter will ensue... -
I go to my sister's house every week to play with my niece and nephew. Yesterday, my sister (who is super-involved in her Baptist church), got a text while I was there saying that a lady she knew had lost her young son and her mother in a car accident that afternoon. Of course, the prayer chain was alerted. Here's the kicker: this lady and her husband had prayed for 7 years that God would give them a baby boy (I don't see the reason for requesting a gender, but that's not important) and then the boy died in a freak car accident. He was in first grade. It's an awful, awful thing to lose a mother and a child. But it really adds that extra sting when you believe that an all-powerful god was responsible. When I heard they were asking people to pray, I thought: "Why? Obviously, this story illustrates that praying is a crap shoot at best, and that "god" certainly can't be trusted." It's like asking your child's murderer to loan you money. As a Christian, I would have totally accepted all of this as God's mysterious will. But now the blinders are off, and I think faith in an all-powerful god just makes situations like this that much more painful.
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