Religious, spiritual, and agnostic people... do you pray?

[redqueen]

I'm curious...

I'm agnostic, and despite my uncertainty about whether or not there's any reason to, I still do. I suppose I find it comforting, and it allows me to appeal to something regarding situations which I have no control over. Perhaps it's a coping mechanism. We are, after all, emotional beings... if I were completely logical, I could simply recognize that some matters are beyond my control, and leave it at that... unfortunately, though...

So, if you like, please let me know your thoughts on the subject of prayer.

Interestingly, though, now that I think about it... I also say grace before family meals on holidays. Only holidays, though. That's kinda strange I guess. Ah well...

And I miss Latin mass, too. I think just cause it's comforting to me. I get random sometimes, sorry...

[xchrom]

1. all the damn time --

and i have a very elastic sense of spirituality -- but i am glad
to go to an episcopal church.

i tend to use generalized prayers -- not asking for anything -- they would sound very catholic.

and most of them are very well known.

[redqueen]

3. Me too... very often...

And yeah, no... never asking for anything, except maybe patience or strength... hehe

I don't really use the Catholic ones I know too often.

[POAS]

2. I pray everyday for an end to the Bush era.

Hasn't worked so far!

:grr:

[redqueen]

6. Regarding that subject...

I sometimes pray that people who are being fooled will realize it... and yeah... I could say it hasn't worked, but poll numbers are looking better, so... what the hell... I'm takin credit! ;)

[kwassa]

4. Prayer, to me, is the most basic part of worship

It is aligning oneself toward God energy, for the lack of a better way of putting it.

[redqueen]

7. I like that way of putting it.

:hi:

[Ian David]

5. I prayed for Stephen Colbert to get his private jet. n/t

[redqueen]

9. Did it work? n/t

[Ian David]

10. No, I don't think so.

I don't think he got the power of invisibility, either.

Pray for Stephen
From Wikiality

Mastermedia International has picked February 22, 2007 as the day to Pray for Stephen.

Stephen has asked for specific things:

* Gulfstream IV Jet
* Power of Invisibility
* To travel back in time to bare-knuckle fight Oliver Cromwell.

But, we here at Wikiality.com don't want to limit American's good wishes for Our Glorious Stephen.

You may ask God, Jesus, The Baby Jesus or even The Blessed Virgin Mary to grant something to Our Glorious Stephen, who ever you ask, please post your prayers below.

Hallelujah!

<snip>

Results

Thanks to thousands of prayers, Stephen chose a 3 Musketeers bar from a vending machine, the only snack with a moral dimension: "All for one and one for all," just like the Holy Trinity, and like the Trinity, it has nougat too. If this keeps up, halos may soon replace tanning salons. Stephen is now praying that Mastermedia International will assign him a second prayer date, preferably Larry King's. You can help.


More:
http://www.wikiality.com/Pray_for_Stephen

[redqueen]

24. Bwaahahaahahaa!

Oh man... my love for Colbert just went up by several orders of magnitude... bare-knuckle fight with Cromwell...

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[Redbear]

8. I agree with you .

I am in your first category of religious (an every Sunday believer) but I see prayer in the same manner.

I think prayer exists for our benefit to help focus our mind and feel more at one with things.

[redqueen]

12. Sort of like meditation?

I used to meditate... then I had kids. I'm too tired for that now. :P

[endarkenment]

17. meditation is not prayer

At least as far as I am concerned. I meditate, but as an atheist I am not praying. Prayer is pleading your case to some deity. A prayer asks for something. Meditation is focusing and relaxing your mind, meditation asks, literally, for nothing.

[redqueen]

19. Well, prayer doesn't necessarily ask for something...

but yes, it is an appeal to a deity or higher power.

I don't know that I'd agree that meditation asks for nothing... I think many who meditate do so to achieve peace of mind, which, if one is seeking that... well they're not technically asking for it, but... it's the method used to gain it, so... hmmmm... if I practice something, am I 'asking for' proficiency?

[endarkenment]

25. Well the difference is that appeal to a higher power.

I agree that one could meditate by praying - mantras are frequently used to clear the mind, and that one could pray without asking for something - as another response noted a prayer could just be a moment of communion with a higher power, a diety. I meditate by moving in defined patterns, not a prayer, but it has the same mantra like effect of clearing my mind of its endless chattering clutter.

But it is that requirement of an entity on the other end of a communication pipe that to me distinguishes the two acts. One prays to a god (for example) but one simply meditates.

[redqueen]

27. Yup... the involvement of a deity is the difference.

When you say moving in defined patterns... do you mean like forms? Martial arts, perhaps? I wish I remembered some... I went too long not doing them...

[endarkenment]

28. Yes. Kata Kalms.

I enjoy the contradiction of practicing deadly arts to arrive at a state of inner peace.

[redqueen]

30. I really miss those...

And yes, it's seems quite a contradiction... however when you consider that most martial arts systems were originally intended for defense, and not aggression, it seems more fitting, yes? (This is my understanding of the origin of most systems, anyhow... that they were developed as a means of coping with an aggressive force, rather than as a way to launch an attack of aggression... I could be wrong and I'm sure I am on some at least, cause they most likely all weren't developed the same way... many do share that characteristic, though.)

[endarkenment]

31. so what's stopping you?

Sounds like you need somebody to push you into a dojo. I stopped for twenty years. Then I noticed that something I had loved was missing from my life. I intend to end up like one of those old chinese people doing tai chi morning kata.

[JerseygirlCT]

20. I think prayer can be meditation, but not all meditation must be

prayer.

Am I making sense?

Prayer is also not always asking for something. As often as not, it is simply communion, conversation, with the divine. It's broader than simply a shopping list of wants or needs. Though that's sometimes part of it, too!

[endarkenment]

26. yes I agree.

As usual I stake out a position at the extreme to make a point. The truth is less clear cut.

[heidler1]

11. I never pray. I do rarely cave in and pretend to pray when at someone

else's home if everyone else is doing it. At the same time I never concede the moral high ground to anyone in my own mind. As a world wide person I spend a lot of time reading to help me decide where I should stand on issues for the betterment of the world. IMO most religious people are concerned with the wrong things.

[redqueen]

14. I do the same...

spend a lot of time reading, I mean... but I've also pretended to pray for the benefit / comfort of others.

I don't like those gatherings where a large group of people prays together. It seems... I don't know... less genuine somehow. I have always felt spirituality should be a very intimate thing.

I think lots of people are too concerned with the wrong things, yes... not only religious people... but it's like with environmental activists who are accused of not practicing what they preach... they seem to be held to a higher standard, and maybe that's fair... however it's hard for me personally to pick someone apart for not doing everything 100% as I think they should based on what I understand about their lives.

[JerseygirlCT]

13. Sure. It's usually less formal, and more of a running conversation

in my head, though.

I totally understand what you mean about the Latin mass. Ritual can be so meditative. It's quite comforting!

[redqueen]

15. Yes... the ritual itself is meditative...

then again, I can find washing dishes meditative, so... :crazy:

:hi:

[JerseygirlCT]

18. Sure, why not! I'm sure I can find some that need washing if

you like, lol!

I think traditions that are usually non-theist -- like Buddhism, recognize the importance of meditation. So I'm not surprised that there are such a variety of ways to pray/meditate... whatever one wants to call it or how one wants to understand it!

[redqueen]

21. After I left home,

and started seeking information on other belief systems, Buddhism was my favorite. I think due to the non-theist thing.

Heh... now if I could only manage to think of folding clothes that way, I'd be set!

[JerseygirlCT]

22. I actually don't mind that. Putting them away is a pain.

But I can use sorting the laundry as an excuse to escape for a few minutes!

[terisan]

16. I pray to whatever beneficient powers there may be. I pray frequently.....

for enlightenment, understanding, forgiveness, acceptance, deliverance. I pray for myself.....for others.

I no longer think in terms of the image of god or greater power as a male figure. I don't think this is true or helpful to the human race, and to females especially.
I think that the spiriual habits we learned in childhood can be comforting. I think the sound of the murmuring in church of the old Latin Mass i was a comfort. Prayer is comforting to me... and I see no reason to give up all comforting things.
I don't say God the Father if asked to say grace. I find that giving thanks is good in and of itself and let each person visualize to whom or what that thanks is given.
I figure that the Universe or Beingness is a wonderful thing and I have no way now or maybe ever of comprehending it all. I definitely do not want to be limited by views of religion that call upon me to narrow my musings.

[redqueen]

23. Love your post!

I do say the traditional grace I learned when I was younger... but I agree that the idea of god as a male / the father is very, very harmful.

[Wildewolfe]

29. These days...

... I find my background coming back to semi haunt me. My parents were main stream christians until I was 10 and then they got 'born again'. I never shared their beliefs though I got drug to all the revivals and crap.

Today I have a more wiccan view of things, but when I think of prayer I tend to find myself thinking back 20+ years to (sorry guys) a Arnold movie (conan the barbarian) and his prayer...

No one will remember today except that two stood against many. I ask you, Father Crom, grant me victory, grant me revenge. And if you will not grant them to me; then the hell with you!

That's kinda where I am these days... help if you will but if you won't get out of our way...

[varkam]

32. As an atheist - yes.

Well, not prayer exactly. I don't believe that there is any sort of force out there that can "hear" my desires and subsequently act on them to give me what I'm asking for. In a nutshell, my spirituality consists of noticing and appreciating the qualitative nature of our existence - the sun, people around us, our own thoughts and emotions. So I do meditate when I get the chance and find it to be quite the experience (although I often find it very difficult to get there). Just my .02.