Every once in a rare while, even though I do not believe that God exists, there are occasions when I do think, what the heck, and send Him a quick note. Say a good friend has recently lost his wife and asks me to pray for her and him. I say sure, give him a hug, and listen for a couple of hours while he laments his loss, and finds solace between his tears in his sure knowledge that he will see her again in a better place. I do the best I can to listen and help him in his grief, I do not chuckle at his belief in the supernatural and the obvious impossibility of his beliefs, and with respect to the seriousness of his belief and emotional pain, I try to accommodate his wish and seriously try to do what I think might be a prayer to ask You to help him out because he really needs it now, and if you do exist, give him some help in spite of my disbelief.
It usually goes like this.
“Hi God, Yeah it’s me. I figure that you know that I don’t believe you exist, and that if you do exist, you probably have a Special Place" for me, but here’s the thing. My friend, a really good person, has lost his wife, she died of cancer. With tears in his eyes, he asked me to pray for her, and him, and I said I would. What else could I say? Something like, no, that’s silly, there’s no one on the other end of that line. I don’t think so, I couldn’t say that to a friend who really believes in you, actually worships you… and is deeply hurting. So of course you know the situation, and I’m sure you know what he needs right now, so I’m asking that You help him out and ease his pain, leave him with the good memories of the happy times and somehow let him know that she actually is in a better place and is waiting for him to join her. Well I don’t know what else to say, except I hope you have a good day."
So now I can tell my friend that I did as he asked. But of course I’ve never heard from God and I seriously doubt that there is any sentient being on the receiving end of this incorporeal line of communication. But I wonder if those “in the know" so to speak, think that a prayer from one who is pretty sure that this whole supernatural god, angels, and devils thing is pure hokum could ever cut any ice with the almighty God of all. Even if it is a good cause, the source is tainted and maybe God just rejects it completely. This seems like a good place to ask that question. There are many different beliefs and opinions here.
Every once in a rare while, even though I do not believe that God exists, there are occasions when I do think, what the heck, and send Him a quick note. Say a good friend has recently lost his wife and asks me to pray for her and him. I say sure, give him a hug, and listen for a couple of hours while he laments his loss, and finds solace between his tears in his sure knowledge that he will see her again in a better place. I do the best I can to listen and help him in his grief, I do not chuckle at his belief in the supernatural and the obvious impossibility of his beliefs, and with respect to the seriousness of his belief and emotional pain, I try to accommodate his wish and seriously try to do what I think might be a prayer to ask You to help him out because he really needs it now, and if you do exist, give him some help in spite of my disbelief. It usually goes like this. “Hi God, Yeah it's me. I figure that you know that I don’t believe you exist, and that if you do exist, you probably have a Special Place" for me, but here’s the thing. My friend, a really good person, has lost his wife, she died of cancer. With tears in his eyes, he asked me to pray for her, and him, and I said I would. What else could I say? Something like, no, that’s silly, there’s no one on the other end of that line. I don’t think so, I couldn’t say that to a friend who really believes in you, actually worships you... and is deeply hurting. So of course you know the situation, and I’m sure you know what he needs right now, so I’m asking that You help him out and ease his pain, leave him with the good memories of the happy times and somehow let him know that she actually is in a better place and is waiting for him to join her. Well I don’t know what else to say, except I hope you have a good day." So now I can tell my friend that I did as he asked. But of course I’ve never heard from God and I seriously doubt that there is any sentient being on the receiving end of this incorporeal line of communication. But I wonder if those “in the know" so to speak, think that a prayer from one who is pretty sure that this whole supernatural god, angels, and devils thing is pure hokum could ever cut any ice with the almighty God of all. Even if it is a good cause, the source is tainted and maybe God just rejects it completely. This seems like a good place to ask that question. There are many different beliefs and opinions here.Do you also send notes to the thousands of other gods humans have believed in throughout history, just in case? If there is a god and he's amywhere as sadistic as the biblical god, you may be be in a heap of trouble for sending such a note. Lois
Yeah, I thought of that… But there’s an awful lot of gods out there and I figured it would be better to stay close to home. I just wondered about the scope of opinions that might be expressed on this conundrum, specifically what they think their god’s reaction might be to those who commit the greatest of sins (unbelief) yet have enough compassion for their fellow humans that would attempt an effort at intercession with a god that that they don’t believe exists, and if it does, that will punish them with immersion in an everlasting lake of burning fire for the sin of unbelief. Would this god reject the prayer, or would it take it under consideration? And, I think I’m in a heap of trouble already, so what’s a little bit more.
Yeah, I thought of that... But there's an awful lot of gods out there and I figured it would be better to stay close to home. I just wondered about the scope of opinions that might be expressed on this conundrum, specifically what they think their god's reaction might be to those who commit the greatest of sins (unbelief) yet have enough compassion for their fellow humans that would attempt an effort at intercession with a god that that they don't believe exists, and if it does, that will punish them with immersion in an everlasting lake of burning fire for the sin of unbelief. Would this god reject the prayer, or would it take it under consideration? And, I think I'm in a heap of trouble already, so what's a little bit more.Ha, yes. It's hard to speculate about gods. They can be so unpredictable
I think you’ve got it backwards… She’s up there, receives your prayer and thinks, “finally someone who’s not constantly praying my ear off. for chrissake all these Christians know how to do is beg for stuff. Figure it out yourselves, help yourselves, whaddya think I gave you goddamn brains for!”
I think you've got it backwards... She's up there, receives your prayer and thinks, "finally someone who's not constantly praying my ear off. for chrissake all these Christians know how to do is beg for stuff. Figure it out yourselves, help yourselves, whaddya think I gave you goddamn brains for!"Good point, i've often thought of that myself. I have this fantasy that if there's a god and a judgement day, the firstt thing he's going to ask is, "What did you do with the brains I gave you? How did you use them to better the world?" Lois
God hears everything. she has no choice.
My God is justice and it doesn’t exist…
…
But I’ll manage it somehow… 
Sky fairies, gods and unicorns don’t exist. I think its fair to say that non existent beings can’t hear whats being said whether the person attempting to communicate is a believer or unbeliever.
You keep doing what makes you happy though.
Sky fairies, gods and unicorns don't exist. I think its fair to say that non existent beings can't hear whats being said whether the person attempting to communicate is a believer or unbeliever. You keep doing what makes you happy though.Jambo, you are a master of the obvious. Do you really think most of us needed to be told that? When someone says something really stupid we sometimes play along for a while to see what happens. Give a fool enough rope and he'll hang himself. Most will slink away but some keep coming back for more rope. It can be a fun game. Lois
No,She does not!
psik