One thing that I think that atheists miss out on is prayer. I'm not talking about supplicating a supreme being for some special prayer, but the ability to simply give a problem to someone else for a little bit. There is a certain comfort in being able to share a problem, to give up worrying about it for at least a little bit.
I know that semantically there are a lot of flaws in that argument, don't get me wrong. There are obviously some problems that you can't give up, such as medical issues or economic issues. Obviously if I'm in constant pain it is going to be hard to give it up for a little bit, and if I'm poor it's going to be hard to be rich all of a sudden. I also know that scientifically prayer is as successful as any other placebo. This is all fine; this is not what I'm referring to.
Prayer used well gives a person a chance to regroup, to step back from a problem, and to look at it from a different perspective. It can also allow the person to take a much needed vacation of sorts from the problem; if all you do is worry about a problem you will burn yourself out so taking a break from it is necessary every so often. You can only concentrate on a problem before it gets to you and it defeats you; you need to take at least a mental break from it every so often.
All it takes is a moment of silence. Sometimes a bowed head helps, or even kneeling; these gestures are important not for some demonstration of humility but to take you out of the moment, to literally put you in a different place. As a hyperkinetic I find a deep breath and standing absolutely still puts me into that moment; it's a different state than my normal get-to-the-finish-line state. I then concentrate on the silence between beats, a different perception between my usual awareness of what is going on around me. In that moment I give, however momentarily, my problem up to God and let him deal with it a moment.
And then I make the mistake of taking it back. With a little bit of luck I get a little epiphany on how to solve the problem, or at least deal with it for a little more. Admittedly sometimes a small insight has been attached, either that the problem is entirely in my head or that the situation has a certain irony to it. I so hate deities with a sense of humor.
I think that atheists miss out on this little moment. And I think that it is a shame.
I know that semantically there are a lot of flaws in that argument, don't get me wrong. There are obviously some problems that you can't give up, such as medical issues or economic issues. Obviously if I'm in constant pain it is going to be hard to give it up for a little bit, and if I'm poor it's going to be hard to be rich all of a sudden. I also know that scientifically prayer is as successful as any other placebo. This is all fine; this is not what I'm referring to.
Prayer used well gives a person a chance to regroup, to step back from a problem, and to look at it from a different perspective. It can also allow the person to take a much needed vacation of sorts from the problem; if all you do is worry about a problem you will burn yourself out so taking a break from it is necessary every so often. You can only concentrate on a problem before it gets to you and it defeats you; you need to take at least a mental break from it every so often.
All it takes is a moment of silence. Sometimes a bowed head helps, or even kneeling; these gestures are important not for some demonstration of humility but to take you out of the moment, to literally put you in a different place. As a hyperkinetic I find a deep breath and standing absolutely still puts me into that moment; it's a different state than my normal get-to-the-finish-line state. I then concentrate on the silence between beats, a different perception between my usual awareness of what is going on around me. In that moment I give, however momentarily, my problem up to God and let him deal with it a moment.
And then I make the mistake of taking it back. With a little bit of luck I get a little epiphany on how to solve the problem, or at least deal with it for a little more. Admittedly sometimes a small insight has been attached, either that the problem is entirely in my head or that the situation has a certain irony to it. I so hate deities with a sense of humor.
I think that atheists miss out on this little moment. And I think that it is a shame.
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