tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341015434128747492.post4326295731882848682..comments2024-03-05T03:25:44.103-05:00Comments on Validation and Acceptance: Prayer: Magical Thinking Or A Transforming Shift in Consciousness?Jim Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00097604997709072572noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341015434128747492.post-79751378209095439702009-10-10T19:32:16.365-04:002009-10-10T19:32:16.365-04:00Beautiful post!
Blessings and peace upon you,
Dim...Beautiful post! <br />Blessings and peace upon you,<br /><a href="http://dimlamp.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow">DimLamp</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341015434128747492.post-43029753736837750752009-10-05T08:49:27.492-04:002009-10-05T08:49:27.492-04:00Now that I have explained my thoughts in the macro...Now that I have explained my thoughts in the macro, some personalizing is in order. As you may or may not be aware, I have been unemployed since 10 Feb. I will begin a new job today, so back to active taxpayerdom I go; but it is the last 8 months that are important to our discussion. Unemployed, in a lousy job market, building a new home that is a bit more than a bungalow, with an existing mortgage, and two small children...wow...oppressive...stomach-churning...potentially, and only potentially, if I allowed it to be so. I knew that things would work out the way they should. Naturally, I had, and have, to do my part, but I was able to take those things that I had no power to control and place those burdens upon one who had the strength to carry them, and who would likewise burden me with nothing more than I could handle. I saw my unemployment as a wonderful opportunity. I was able to spend time with my children. We swam. We visited museums. We played. We spent time together. I was able to do things with them at preschool and Kindergarten. How many men in their early forties have the chance to spend two thirds of a year with their children during these critical formative years? I had not been burdened. I had been blessed with a wonderful opportunity. The opportunity gave me power and influence that I would not otherwise have enjoyed. I also found my prayers transitioning. I began with 'gimme' prayers. I slowly transitioned to prayers asking that I be guided to where God wanted me to be. Curiously, as I gave up my wants and needs, surrendering more control to the Almighty, I became more calm, more assured, although I may be confusing acceptance with assurance.<br /><br />Thank you for providing an opportunity for self-examination. Hopefully, this will not lead to an emergency, involuntary commitment order from Orange County.. *G*<br /><br />DavidAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341015434128747492.post-38002293272362892412009-10-05T08:47:37.232-04:002009-10-05T08:47:37.232-04:00The only sort who may find offense would be one wh...The only sort who may find offense would be one who seeks offense. It is clear that you are not pushing any particular deity, to whom 'correct' prayers should be sent. Therefore, those who find it to be offensive would likely be of, surprisingly, two diverse groups. The first would be the utter non-believer, but one who is secretly unsure in his disbelief. A complete non-believer should not be concerned with what others believe, as it should not matter. Only one who is unsure would find offense, as the belief of others stimulates his doubt in his own disbelief. The reaction, "I AM OFFENDED" (caps/shouting intended) is an attempt to convince himself of his own disbelief, not to actually change others. The second category of the offended would be the ultra-orthodox. Curiously enough, I believe that the reaction of the ultra-orthodox arises from the same basic reason as the first. These are just my observations, they may or may not be correct. <br /><br />Now to the fun part, my reactions.<br /><br />I do have a deep and abiding belief in prayer. Personally, I trust my God, and have faith in his benevolent oversight of Creation, although Man, as a flawed and sinful race, do constantly through free-will monkey wrenches into the works, as do I, a flawed man, even though I do strive to be a better Father, Husband and person every day, learning from my mistakes, and those of others, in spite of my ego, which is my worst enemy. Yes, I do believe in prayer, as I do believe that I pray to a 'True God'. However, I acknowledge that prayer can be beneficial to others, even if they to not pray to the 'same God' as I. How can that be?<br /><br />The initial answer to the last question points to possibilities, rather than to defeatism. Naturally, those of us who pray, ask for those things which we cannot control. When a man will not pray, as he sees no power greater than himself. He is living as an 'island unto himself', without any mystic linkage between the manifold parts of our existence. A man such as this is truly alone within himself, randomly moving through life, apart from those aspects that he may directly influence, which, when viewed within the context of space and time, is so minuscule as to be hardly measurable. Therefore, he who will not believe is defeated, powerless, and impotent, simply a passenger on the ride of his life. <br /><br />Contrast the non-believer with one who does believe in prayer. This belief need to be in 'God', but in any higher power/connection of all creation. Further, in this context 'prayer' is not simply the Western view of communication with a Deity, it includes the man who simply believes that all of Creation is interlinked, not unlike the fictional 'Jedi' belief in "The Force", to provide some context. This person has hope. He is able to move forward in life with a positive assurance through faith and belief that although he appears, or indeed is, the smallest, most insignificant portion of all Creation, he has the opportunity to commune and communicate with that which is greater than he. This connection with the universal, and faith in that connection, frees one from defeatism. All things are not assured, but they are possible. He can strive, so long as his desired outcome is possible, as hope rises from possibilities. No great accomplishments have ever sprung from the impossible, but many have emerged from the highly improbably, but the one man who saw that tiniest sliver of possibility, and who fought his way to and through it.<br /><br />To summarize, my belief is that one who prays possesses a positive component that the non-believer does not. That positive component allows him to see the potential for success/happiness/outcomes. Once the possibility is accepted, he can bring his full being to bear, which gives him an edge. To use the lottery tagline, "You can't win, if you ain't in." The non-believer isn't in the game. He is merely a cog in the machine, a prison of his own making.<br /><br />DavidAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341015434128747492.post-6217518643074773352009-10-05T00:13:53.491-04:002009-10-05T00:13:53.491-04:00I think there are many options about what prayer i...I think there are many options about what prayer is other than the two you list. There is a lot of area in between those two extremes. <br /><br />When something happens that strikes us as an answer to a prayer, it may be many things, including coincidence. When nothing happens in answer to a prayer, I suspect that we ignore, or don't even notice, the lack of response and so we can't factor those non-events into our overall perspective. <br /><br />Even so, I, like you, have had many wondrous and inexplicable things happen after some type of prayer, so I know it is intriguing and mysterious. On the other hand, I can remember begging God to take away my awful pain from cramps month after month for decades and as I recall, he/she never came through. The true miracle was Advil! [In this case, I'd be likely to say that God is a he].<br /><br />I love this quote by CS Lewis: I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me." I love this quote from Marty Groder: "If there's nothing out there, I don't want to waste my time worrying about it. If there is something out there, I'll deal with it when I get there." I think I will, too.<br /><br />MaraAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341015434128747492.post-51853208531844715652009-10-04T17:59:07.290-04:002009-10-04T17:59:07.290-04:00Thanks Judy and Martha for sharing your responses....Thanks Judy and Martha for sharing your responses.<br /><br />When someone asks me, "What are you?," I often respond with, "I think of myself as a Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew." One night while sitting around a campfire at Blythe Gap on the Appalachian Trail with a fellow from southeast Georgia, his immediate rejoinder was, "Yeah, that's it! That's what I am, too!"Jim Wellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00097604997709072572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341015434128747492.post-52417801720496803292009-10-04T09:53:21.895-04:002009-10-04T09:53:21.895-04:00I think you have absolutely achieved your goal of ...I think you have absolutely achieved your goal of presenting your own experience while respecting what may or may not be the experience of others. Coincidentally, I just received a book on Rumi by Demi, and the first poem is something I know will resonate with you:<br /><br />"Muslims, what to do? I no longer know myself! I am no longer Christina, Jew, Zoroastrian, nor even Muslim, nor of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea..., nor Indian, Chinese, Iraqi...I seek the One, I know the One, I see the One, I call the One." <br />Rumi from Diwan-i Shams-i Tabrizi<br /><br />MarthaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4341015434128747492.post-70960185868613293612009-10-03T15:40:29.319-04:002009-10-03T15:40:29.319-04:00I have found the most direct and powerful prayer i...I have found the most direct and powerful prayer is to call on Jesus. I just say his name. All tension leaves my body and I am totally at peace, no matter what preceded it. This has never failed, and is all the more compelling because I am Jewish. I do not have the "personal relationship with Jesus" that others tell me about (though never in ways that help me understand it), but I am increasingly interested in Jesus and, I believe, moving in that direction. How can I ignore the man if just his name is so powerful?<br /><br />I am a strong believer in prayer, and though I may pray about various issues, more often than not it's a quick, "Thy will be done", or, if I'm entering a situation, "Please give me guidance" or "Help me to say, do and be only that which is completely according to Thy will". <br /><br />Interesting topic. Thanks, Jim. <br /><br />Judymondurvichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15276828632890588236noreply@blogger.com