Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kirk Holden on January 2, 2010 at 12:16pm

Great question! Prayers for protection.

When I think about my three adult children and I imagine something bad happening to them, I find myself saying a prayer for their well-being. Then I realize that I need to DO SOMETHING in the real world to help them out.

It's a habit, not a bad one really.

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Permalink Reply by Christine Vyrnon on January 2, 2010 at 12:42pm

Kirk - Good call! Praying is a culture unto itself and that ritual of asking for or offering prayers - the verbalizing on one's needs and compassion for others - is something that is hard to find a substitute for - even when we now know we are responsible for our own well-being. The loss of communal prayer takes some adjusting to.

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Permalink Reply by Kirk Holden on January 2, 2010 at 1:22pm

Ahh yes, the joys of Catholic Rites, I remember them well. I might find myself in one of the Catholic flavored building every once in a while for the spectacle. Mass at St. Peter's Basilica cannot be beat. They have Michaelangelo's statuary in the Narthex -- it don' get no better...

The main thing about prayer is that you have to say it out loud, silence is not golden. We know from neuroscience that engaging the auditory machinery works on your own speech just as well as the speech of others. We engage the whole machinery of audio cognition which greatly increases our understanding of the problem and our ability to guess what happens next.

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Permalink Reply by zoolady on January 13, 2010 at 10:14pm

(This is silly, but....) I don't know if they still do, but Catholics used to have SUPER calendars! The saints and Jesus & everyone had open chests with big, bleeding hearts in them...very, very cool to a 7-year-old. My aunt used to give me one every year, just because I loved seeing the martyrs with blood and tears, etc. And, all the bobbing, kneeling, incense, bells ringing, smoke, etc...that was fun, too.

Now, of course, I go to a mass and find myself wondering how many children the priest molested or how many molestations he covered up for one of his friends.

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Permalink Reply by Mr Good Without God on January 2, 2010 at 1:49pm

I miss the community the most. There was always something going on and there were always people around with simmular beliefs and interests.

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Permalink Reply by Christine Vyrnon on January 2, 2010 at 1:55pm

This is true. What denominational background did you come from?

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Permalink Reply by Mr Good Without God on January 2, 2010 at 2:00pm

I was involved in the church of the brethern and the baptist church mostly. I also attended a non denominational mega church near the end there.

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Permalink Reply by Christine Vyrnon on January 3, 2010 at 3:26am

I too went to a non denominational mega church toward the end - but also attended an adorable Emerging Church toward the end - was double fisting it on Sundays :p

I'm not familiar with church of the brethen so will look it up. All too familiar with many Baptist denominations.

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Permalink Reply by Mr Good Without God on January 3, 2010 at 3:31am

Church of the Brethren are like modern menonites. Their biggest two things were submerged baptism and being pacifists .

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Permalink Reply by Christine Vyrnon on January 3, 2010 at 11:04am

Did you attend this church on a regular basis? Our family attended a Mennonite church over the canadian border for about a year. I remember them as very kind, True Christians - as in very welcoming - which many churches aren't.

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Permalink Reply by Mr Good Without God on January 4, 2010 at 3:55pm

I attended two different Brethren churches. One for 4 years, then another for 6 years. I went almost every Sunday and went on various days throughout the week as well.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew on January 13, 2010 at 10:07pm

i was also a Plymoth Brothern.

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