Meditation 202
No need to pray for me
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From: Danielle
Comments : I can't believe this is a real site. I think I need to pray for you - big time.
To: Danielle:
From: JT
Please don't waste your time praying for me. Big time or small time. It is not going to work, and you might risk losing your faith in the power of prayer.
Best wishes
To: John
From: Danielle
Not a chance - I will pray for you...and all the potential people you may lead astray.[1] And regarding prayer not working, sorry my friend, but that is not your call, it rests with a much higher power. Thank God, literally.
Blessing, Danielle
Danielle:
If you want to pray for anyone, there are many in far more need of prayer than I am. You could start among your fellow Christians.
- Pray for the Reverend Fred Phelps that he might see the error of his ways in preaching a message of hate against those born with different sexual preferences.
- Pray for the Reverend Donald Spitz who calls cowardly murderers of women's healthcare providers heroes, that he might see the real heroes are the doctors and nurses.
- Pray for the Reverend Jerry Falwell that he might on occasion think before speaking.
- Pray for the Reverend Pat Robertson that he might return to the poor several hundred million dollars that he has profited from them.
- Pray for Jack T. Chick who uses comic strips to preach lies and hatred to children in the guise of a Christian message, that he might see the evil he is promoting.
- Pray for those Christian clergymen who are trying to bring about Armageddon through creating conditions for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem that they might see that they should allow their God to do things by his own schedule.
- Pray for all Christian ministers that condemn those who are different that they might start realizing similarities are far more important than differences.
- Pray for everyone who has sent money to a televangelist that their eyes might be opened to their hypocrisy, fraud, and sybaritic lifestyles.
If that is not enough for you to pray for, then pray for followers of other religions.
- Pray for Osama bin Laden and his followers that they might see they are not following the teachings of the Prophet.
- Pray for the leaders and spiritual advisors of the various Palestinian factions that they might see that suicide attacks and tit-for-tat escalating revenge will not bring about the creation of a stable and lasting Palestine, but that sincere peace talks might.
- Pray for the leaders of Israel that they might see that repression, human rights violations and escalating tit-for-tat revenge will not bring about a peaceful and prosperous Israel, but that sincere peace talks might.
- Pray for the Israeli settlers in the occupied territories that they might see that their claims to a Greater Israel are unjustified and will not bring about a stable and lasting Israel, but that sincere peace talks within the bounds of an internationally recognized Israel might.
- Pray that Hindu extremists recognize the rights of others to freely practice their religions in India including, but not limited to, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs.
Danielle, your prayers would be best directed at ending religious strife everywhere in the world. Your prayers would be best directed at getting those who preach messages of hate to change to a message of mutual respect.
There's no need to pray for agnostics. Unlike those I've given a small sample of above, we are "mostly harmless."
Footnote:
- I don't lead people astray. I'd be highly surprised if anyone with a firm religious belief suddenly "saw the light" as a result of these pages. What I do provide is a place where agnostics can find a home, where we can make common cause, where we can oppose the unwanted intrusions of the religions of others into our lives.