Do people who pray, or the ones that say they do, understand just how hard it is for us heathens to lend support. Here's the thing...we actually need to mean it. We can't use a generic "you're in my prayers." We need to formulate thoughts that are specific to the situation and then lend actual support, in the form of comfort, assistance and in rare cases, guidance. This is a stressful time for us, because we can possibly say the wrong thing or even worse, take the wrong tone. We might say something that comes off dismissive, such as "OK, thinking about you" or "Let me know if you need anything" and that just doesn't hold the weight of promised prayer.
I know what you're saying. You think I'm just being anti-religion and make no mistake, I think it's an evil beyond all others, but that isn't it. I'm saying, for all the wars it's caused, the confusion it brings and the conflict it causes in individual lives, it allows everyone who believes an out from responsibility and care. For once you say, "you're in my prayers," you're absolved of any further responsibility, unless asked. Then, you're deemed a savior of sorts, because when asked, you answered the call. Where as those of us who ask without hesitation are usually expected to give the person space and be on call. A call, which by the way, rarely comes, until all hope is lost and then, when it does, we're there for the horrors. Those God's chosen can't accept, so they hide and wait for groups meetings, to bow, look sorrowful and pray some more. This time for your peace.
Let's be real. When you say "I'll pray for you," what you really mean is you'll pray for yourself. You'll hope such horrors never beset your life and that if called upon, it's for nothing more than a car ride or to watch the young one. Your prayers are that you don't have to sit and listen for months, while those beckon calls to God go unanswered. You pray that the worst case scenario is that you might have to get your shirt dry cleaned for the sad day, so you can tell the bereaved, that someone is in a better place. Or you pray, that it's one of the millions of things, people make a big deal out of, with full knowledge it's nothing.
Tonight I worry about a friend and I'm helpless, they're helpless and there are no magical words in my world that make this easier for anyone. All I can say is"let me know," and let them finish the what is needed of me; and that isn't good enough.
I know what you're saying. You think I'm just being anti-religion and make no mistake, I think it's an evil beyond all others, but that isn't it. I'm saying, for all the wars it's caused, the confusion it brings and the conflict it causes in individual lives, it allows everyone who believes an out from responsibility and care. For once you say, "you're in my prayers," you're absolved of any further responsibility, unless asked. Then, you're deemed a savior of sorts, because when asked, you answered the call. Where as those of us who ask without hesitation are usually expected to give the person space and be on call. A call, which by the way, rarely comes, until all hope is lost and then, when it does, we're there for the horrors. Those God's chosen can't accept, so they hide and wait for groups meetings, to bow, look sorrowful and pray some more. This time for your peace.
Let's be real. When you say "I'll pray for you," what you really mean is you'll pray for yourself. You'll hope such horrors never beset your life and that if called upon, it's for nothing more than a car ride or to watch the young one. Your prayers are that you don't have to sit and listen for months, while those beckon calls to God go unanswered. You pray that the worst case scenario is that you might have to get your shirt dry cleaned for the sad day, so you can tell the bereaved, that someone is in a better place. Or you pray, that it's one of the millions of things, people make a big deal out of, with full knowledge it's nothing.
Tonight I worry about a friend and I'm helpless, they're helpless and there are no magical words in my world that make this easier for anyone. All I can say is"let me know," and let them finish the what is needed of me; and that isn't good enough.
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