I genuinely like that my friends are praying for me. It's a new experience for me to have people praying for me not because they think I'm damned (like my mother does), but just because they love me and they want me to feel loved and cared for. And I do. I feel very loved and supported.
I say without reservation, thank you for your prayers. It really means a lot.
Funny. . . they have to tell you or you won't know it.
ReplyDeleteDo "Happy thoughts" count? Every time I see your profile picture I see a mother/child bond and I am happy for you.
ReplyDeleteBut do you suspect this dark side:
ReplyDeleteTheists often believe that their God brings suffering into our lives to teach us lessons. And what better way for God to minister to a wayward Mormon but to make her suffer so she realizes how she should depend on God rather than herself.
So perhaps your friends are praying more for your soul (for which suffering would be good) than for your temporary earthly happiness.
Secular Dentist, it's true I wouldn't see any effects of their prayers without their telling me, but I'm still glad that they tell me.
ReplyDeletedbd, "happy thoughts" absolutely count! Thanks you for yours!
Sabio, I am not at all suspicious of the motives of these particular friends. Neither of them is big on the whole sin and salvation bit, no have they any desire for me to be Mormon (or of any other particular faith) again. I do have friends and relatives whose motives for prayer I would definitely question, but these friends I know are true friends and just want me to feel their support through a difficult time.
Wonderful ! Then, as you say, these are "true" friends -- people who value and love each other over their own beliefs.
ReplyDeleteSounds like my Mormon friends. When they pray for me it's for my happiness. When my family prays for me, they beg god to bring me back into the religion.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think back of the positive sides of the prayers that I did when I was a boy, I can think of several things.
ReplyDelete1) It reminded me of all the people in my family and how they loved me. "God bless mama and papa, nana and grandpa, oma and opa" etc. (Obviously, if I was thinking of them, they were thinking of me.)
2) When I was older, it gave me time to reflect on my life and evaluate where I was and what I needed to do to get where I want to be. I would look back over the course of the week and see how things had gone wrong and how I could have acted differently to avoid that in the future. I would look at the positive behaviour of the nice or well-liked people around me and see how I could alter my actions to emulate them.
Now that I'm a parent, each night I tell my children the Story of the Two Boos (them). Most nights, it's a rundown of what they did that day. From details like what they had for breakfast to how many games of Uno we played. On some nights, it consists of going over theyir extended family and how we're related. On other nights, it's a longer family history covering details like when their parents met to where they were born etc. It will also tend to go over episodes of bad (or good) behaviour, why it was wrong (or right) and the consequences of said action.
When I think back of the positive sides of the prayers that I did when I was a boy, I can think of several things.
ReplyDelete1) It reminded me of all the people in my family and how they loved me. "God bless mama and papa, nana and grandpa, oma and opa" etc. (Obviously, if I was thinking of them, they were thinking of me.)
2) When I was older, it gave me time to reflect on my life and evaluate where I was and what I needed to do to get where I want to be. I would look back over the course of the week and see how things had gone wrong and how I could have acted differently to avoid that in the future. I would look at the positive behaviour of the nice or well-liked people around me and see how I could alter my actions to emulate them.
Now that I'm a parent, each night I tell my children the Story of the Two Boos (them). Most nights, it's a rundown of what they did that day. From details like what they had for breakfast to how many games of Uno we played. On some nights, it consists of going over theyir extended family and how we're related. On other nights, it's a longer family history covering details like when their parents met to where they were born etc. It will also tend to go over episodes of bad (or good) behaviour, why it was wrong (or right) and the consequences of said action.