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You must have studied the Revelation book a lot. :-)

Prayer was always the thing I fell back on when I didn't know how to cope with what I was feeling or thinking. I prayed very sincerely from the time I was so young that it got ingrained in me, I think.

I don't miss it so much anymore, but I do remember how reassuring it was to say a prayer and think, "There, Jehovah knows what I feel. It'll be OK."

I also thought of the fact that Western religions also offer camaraderie; a sense of belonging.

The idea of a "thought crime" and being unable to prevent it is intriguing. I never thought of it that way. This leads to the conclusion that we can never ask to not covet, we can only ask for forgiveness (with guilt in tow) once the act is done.






I had no idea you missed prayer. That's very interesting. you must have preayed a lot. I miss studying the Revalation book.

I think I ought to take that as a complement...

I like your point about whether or not Western religion claims to have any tools other than prayer. In all my religious reading I have discovered very few people who even seem to recognize the need for such disciplines in the Christian tradition. Alan Watts is probably the most outspoken proponent of fusing Western faith with Eastern philosophy to create a modern religious sensibility, but he is more of an anthropologist, educating Westerners on Eastern religions.

My thoughts on all of this, btw, stem from the fact that I now that I no longer believe in God I actually miss prayer. It seemed to be a good way to focus and clear my thoughts, like bouncing ideas off a friend can do but without the need of having one around. I've replaced it a bit with imagined conversations with Rhett, but it's not the same. The function prayer served has no analogs in the Christian world. The Eastern religions, however, basically give you an owners manual to your brain. They give you exercises, guidance, reports from within, all sorts of stuff to help you with the "how" of things. I think that is why so many people who lose their faith in Christianity wind up interested in Eastern religion. Christianity doesn't offer anything other than guilt, self-discipline and prayer as tools. It doesn't really claim to, as you pointed out. I don't think those are sufficient to deal with spiritual issues, even if you are a believer.

What I couldn't help thinking during all of this is... does Western religion claim to provide us with the tools to deal with life? And, isn't a personal channel and assistance from the Almighty a pretty good tool, at least from their viewpoint?

Truly, in the world of shoot-from-the-hip podcast prognosticators, you stand out like a latter-day Nostradamus.