I'm not going to identify the person I have in mind as I write this post.
First, it doesn't really matter because I think most of you know at least one of
these types of religious people. Some of you, like me, used to be one of these
types of religious people!
Anyway, I was speaking with this very devout person yesterday - not about
religion, mind you, but about the day in general - and couldn't help but notice
a good half-dozen references to prayer this person made. And they just struck me
as petty. Embarrassingly so. Such things as "I prayed for the rain to hold off
until I got home," "I prayed the traffic wouldn't be bad so I could get to where
I was going quickly," "I prayed the weather man had missed the predicted high
temperature and it wouldn't get so hot," etc.
Obviously this person's concept of God is that of a person minutely
involved in every minute detail of life. And obviously of a God who can be
cajoled into serving one's individual needs and desires - IF it is according
to His will, of course. Some cups don't pass away, obviously.
I'm not poking fun here, because back in my Christian days I prayed more
than my share of what I now consider to be ridiculous prayers. I think that
blather about "a personal relationship with God" really permeated my thinking.
I'm sure - like the person I mentioned above - I never thought of my prayers as
manipulative and silly. Just imagine a God receiving millions of these prayers
every second of the day and trying to pull all the necessary levers to bring
everything about without totally destroying the very fabric of reality!
Before I finally reluctantly gave up on the concept of a personal God
altogether I had reasoned my way to the position that nature is a system and
that system was not - could not be - designed around one's individual
happiness.
I don't know that I've ever been in a Christian home - including my
childhood home - that didn't have the Serenity Prayer hanging on a
wall somewhere; and yet most praying believers never fully come to grips with
the concept of simply praying for the grace to accept certain things that are
just the way they are.
Do we sometimes underestimate our ability to adapt to life's most trying
circumstances? Do we need a god that will help us do that or bend reality around
our desires?
For me that represents a very defective understanding of religion.
14 comments:
"Do we need a god that will help us do that or bend reality around our desires?"
Isn't this why our species has a god? There had to be a why? to our presence and there had to be a reason for our reality and all that that entails.
"Do we sometimes underestimate our ability to adapt to life's most trying circumstances?"
Yes. If you look at our continued need as a species for help in coping with real horrors, how much greater was the need for help for our ancient ancestors?
Are we not where we are because of what came before?
This kind of "praying" permeates the Christian world today. It is one of my major pet peeves. Athletes pointing to the sky before kneeling in the end zone, crossing themselves before they take a swing at a pitch, or standing in front of a camera and thanking God for doing something significant is sickening to me. I have gotten to the point that I smile inwardly if not openly when people give me the "I prayed" bit. It's all so trite and meaningless. Some of my friends on Facebook constantly post religious stuff at they same time that they post junk calling for praying for the President's death. I already know that they aren't nearly as "Christian" as they would like people to believe, at least those who don't know them very well.
I guess that's the main reason most people believe in the bible god.
Some people tend to see God as a divine genie who will grant their wishes on command. It's spiritually shallow but common.
Granting a God concept for the purpose of discussion, there are 2 aspects of prayer: 1) God will change what would otherwise happen because of the prayer, or 2) God will not change what is going to happen because of the prayer.
Case 1) entails that God's plan was faulty and you with your imploring were able to effect an improvement over what God had in mind. Wow! (Or not wow. After all, Abraham and Moses, mere men, corrected God from evil intentions - maybe God is a bit fallible?)
Case 2) entails that prayer is futile because God's eternal plan is what will occur anyway.
In view of the foregoing, I recommend just crossing your fingers - equally effective and no need to distract your attention away from dealing with the real world situation in front of you. Wishing on a star works as well also.
@ Zoe,
Somehow I can make more sense out of the ancients wanting god(s) to send rain because they were starving or to hold off on their wrath and stop that volcano from rumbling and pouring molten lava on their village, etc. Or maybe the tribe getting together to have prayer and such before the big hunt.
I'm thinking out loud in that post and trying to understand exactly how that would work if I wanted God to hold off rain from my house so I can have that cookout I've been planning for me and my friends while my neighbor who is a gardener is praying for rain for his crops. How might that work?
Or how about praying because of the traffic? I think of the scene from the Jim Carrey movie Bruce Almighty where he has God's power and uses it to clear a path in the traffic for him to move ahead. (And he also used that power to blow a woman's skirt up so he could out her rear end!) That's what yesterday made me think of.
Of course there is the subject of guardian angels. That might help out on the personal aspects of godly attention. However, I don't think that would make the fabric of nature elastic enough to bend to everyone's wishes.
Let me add, however, that I find the idea of The Secret just as obnoxious. Yet I once had an online exchange with someone who that quite seriously and even - I have to say - spoke eloquently about the philosophy behind it. I wasn't persuaded.
Maybe I lack imagination.
@ Georgia Mountain Man,
Who would have thought God was such a sport's fan? But, yes, that's what I'm writing about. And I guess it wouldn't bother me nearly so much if there wasn't so much evil in the world. I'm wondering - if God can help an athelete hit a home run, throw a touchdown, or land a knockout pucnh - why can't do a little more to help the police find abducted children, save innocents from random drive-by shootings, send ravens to feed hungry poor people, and scores of other things which seem to me of infinitely more importance.
@ Sylvia,
Special providence smacks of favoritism to me. I think sometimes people really show their self-centeredness with that type of thing. At least I tend to think so.
@ Ahab,
I see it as spiritual shallowness as well. I'm not trying to be mean, here. In fact, I didn't even go into it with the person. I guess it just stayed on mind. In fact, it is still bothering me.
@ Exrelayman,
Yeah, it gets deep. There is Calvin's God of decree and predestination. There is the fact, as Hartshorne pointed out, that the Bible doesn't actually depict God as perfect; that was an add on courtesy of Greek thought. But mostly, I think the rank and file Christian doesn't think very deeply about such things.
Oh you've gone and done it now . . . you brought up The Secret. ;-) I tried reading it . . . didn't get far. Guess I'm all out of "imagination" too. :-)
One day a new family member thought I should read The Secret. Guess she thought it might help me. She knew nothing of the path I had travelled and I gently said, "Oh I read that and it didn't resonate with me." Topic was dropped.
BTW, I use to pray for parking spots and for people on our street not to open their doors to the J.W.'s. My day was filled with prayer at just about any moment.
Makes us former Christians seem to have been quite petty, doesn't it.
@ Zoe,
I had those days. I once believed that way. Funny all you can see if you allow yourself the freedom to step back and take a good look.
@ Don,
Well let me say this: it really embarrasses me when I think back on it now.
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