Prayer perspective...

[_Roger Morrison]

This new thread has unravelled from the "PBS Part Two" thread, where prayer and belief, that nonconforms to LDS edicts is suggested by Gaz to be without credibility. It begins with a quote from Gaz...

Roger
You, without a doubt, are a good man. But how can you tell me you pray when yopu don't believe in anything? Who are you praying to?

Pasted below is what i hope will illustrate/demonstrate a more comprehensive and powerful understanding AND application of the principle, practice & application of the Universal power of "Prayer"...

This is an excerpt from my daughter's letter to her friends and spiritual community. She has been living and travelling in Egypt for about two months, and will soon be returning home...

...And then, after a few deep breaths I knew that was a reactionary response and only feeding the fear that is building. Then, NEW THOUGHT, what if God has put me here on purpose to balance the energy, or even to call on my spiritual powers and counterparts to flood this area with positive light to counter the fear involved in both the anticipation of and the act itself. I, along with others and yourselves, may be here with a mission to diffuse the act or heal the after affect?

I am still undecided. If I leave i can visit with my sister (who is with the Special Forces) one more time in Cairo before i leave, plus see another part of Egypt that is also beautiful-on the Mediteranean.

And yet i feel like I am running, if I do that. More than contributing to the vibration of fear, I feel too like I am abandoning my friends and gracious hosts who live here-who live in this reality, who have families and businesses here. How very "American" of me, my Egyptian counterparts would say. Running and fleeing is not an option for them, or they don't see it as one. This is their life-they accept it. And, that kind of acceptance of God's will is something I have been focusing on during my extended stay here.

Acceptance of this kind is beautiful because it means they don't have the same reaction to fear that we have in the west; it doesn't limit them. Egyptians, particularily, are a very peaceful people. They do not react with violence-it doesn't seem to be in them, as a collective. They accept their fate, their situation, their government, their laws, their culture.... and so it is.

Of course this works for and against them. As many things in our society work for and against us.

Once we all get together and embrace our oneness, it is going to be a GLORIOUS explosion and expansion of balance, harmony and ease. We have much to teach each other. This is why world travel, and I mean TRAVEL, not tourism, is so important. It is a human experience that units our consciousness. It is through such insights that we truely experience our seperateness transforming and awakening into wholeness.

I know how I delt with the fear of this news for the weekend, and i have witnessed how the locals I've told have delt with it. Totally different. And yet one breeds peace and one breeds more fear. Hmmmmmm....

I'm feeling more like staying is the right thing for me (not in terms of "right and wrong"; I mean 'right' as my truth). And spending the days (away from the high tourist spots, on the captain's orders) in meditation for peace, love and in light-to bless this area.

This is the purpose of my call--to ask you to consciously take a moment or 2 or even split your consciousness for a few days and keep a steady stream of your beautiful unconditional love vibration flowing to me, to the South sinai, to Islam, to Isreal, to America uniting us all in love, light and oneness. Maybe these acts of terrorism can be diffused in ways of the miraculous. We'll know it is an act of God--from all of us

This is a call to prayer.

At the moment--the reason for fear--the area is under "High Alert", which evokes my daughter's concern for those who cannot escape, as can she. Whether there seems relevance in this situation will depend on personal perspectives, sentiments & faith in human potential to affect change by other than violent means.

Gaz, to answer Your question to me, : "... i believe in a rising humanity, not in a fallen-man." When we move beyond theology, sectarianism, denominationalism and tribalism to experience the human-family as "God" intends...

...then we will experience life as only WE can make it--by following the instructions and example of Jesus THE teacher. In My Seriously Considered Opinion, that is.

"Prayer" is not a ritual, it is a state of mind-power; that goes-without-saying :-) Warm regards, Roger

[_Sam Harris]

"Prayer" is not a ritual, it is a state of mind-power; that goes-without-saying :-) Warm regards, Roger

Roger, you raised your daughter well. I can see in her writing much of what you bring forth in yourself here.

As far as prayer, many people who adhere to dogmatic systems of belief seem to see prayer as an exclusive way for them to talk to God. God doesn't hear anyone else, because they aren't in the right building, or don't say the right words, or don't believe the right things. And I ask those people, why would God create something to destroy it? Why would God create a whole mass of people and things, only to love part of it?

Prayer is not getting on your knees, it's opening your heart. Which is why I get frustrated in my belief system at times, because they keep going on and on about having a "prayer life". To them, that is getting on your knees every night and praying. But to me, sometimes that is just meaningless chatter. The Dialogue goes on constantly, just because I don't put words in my mouth doesn't mean it isn't happening.

And it sounds to me like you, Roger, believe in a great deal. You just don't let yourself be limited by other's perceptions of what they think will happen to you when you die, based on their beliefs.

[_cacheman]

Roger, she's sounds like a chip off the old block. You must be proud to have raised such a thoughtful and compassionate daughter.

You, without a doubt, are a good man. But how can you tell me you pray when yopu don't believe in anything? Who are you praying to?

It's unfortunate that some people assume that those who don't follow their particular theological leanings simply "don't believe in anything." We are all believers in something, and I've found that generally, people's beliefs have much more in common than not.

cacheman

[_truth dancer]

Hey Roger...

Very lovely! Your daughter is amazing as are you! :-)

Thanks for sharing this!

I agree... prayer is a vision of the soul, the desires of one's heart, a plea for goodness.

I could be wrong, but if there is a God/man/human being in the heavens, I can't imagine that this being would get caught up in the words, phrases, rituals, forms of the decrees of a few men who think they know God's true nature. :-(

Thanks again Roger,

~dancer~

[_Some Schmo]

Prayer can be a good thing. It forces a person to ask certain questions. The problem with it, as I see it, is the attributing whatever answer is perceived to someone outside one's self.

I think it's sad that people are more willing to trust some imaginary sounding wall in the sky rather than their own basic instincts.

[_harmony]

I think it's sad that people are more willing to trust some imaginary sounding wall in the sky rather than their own basic instincts.

Some people understand that that "imaginary sounding wall in the sky" is their own basic instincts.

[_Some Schmo]

I think it's sad that people are more willing to trust some imaginary sounding wall in the sky rather than their own basic instincts.

Some people understand that that "imaginary sounding wall in the sky" is their own basic instincts.

I would hope so, but those aren't the people I'm sad for.

[_The Nehor]

I would hope so, but those aren't the people I'm sad for.

What makes it even scarier is when the "imaginary sounding wall in the sky" starts talking back and is much smarter than you.

[_Dr. Shades]

Maybe these acts of terrorism can be diffused in ways of the miraculous.

Oh yes, that'll work! I'll bet Rumsfeld is shaking his head right now, wondering why he didn't think of that.

I'll start holding my breath. . . now.

This is a call to prayer.

Which, when it comes to terrorism, always works.

[_Gazelam]

Roger has stated that he has no belief in God. That is what I was getting at.