To be fair I have decided to post the other side of the prayer story (but I'm keeping my other post too; a nice juxtaposition).
Recap: My frustration was with prayer from people I know very little (and who know the same about me) asking for things for me I don't want (salvation) being likened to them thinking very hard on a regular basis about my unfortunate demise. I used phrases along the lines of "devoured by lions" or "plummet from tall buildings". These were all physical examples, I could have used statements like "end up in a cardboard box on the street" or "fail at life". Just so we're clear ;)
This is not a retraction but an addition. Somehow, with all my awkwardness and quirkiness, I have managed to attract some of the most amazing people into my life. Some of those people happen to really like Jesus (some of the them happen to really like G-sis). Chatting with one of these good friends last night (and extra props to her for being sleep-deprived from a new baby and still being able to hash this one out) she mentioned my take on things seemed a bit....harsh.
Her (challenge): So, do you want people to stop praying for you altogether?
Me: That's tough, do I have any say in the matter?
Her: let's pretend that you do.
My first instinct, of course, is to say "no then, everyone stop praying right now". If I'm going to be as steadfastly anti-(jesus? religion? christian?) and if I truly believe it is just intense thought then it should be an easy question to answer. It isn't. Whether I believe that it does anything or not it is comforting to know that there are people I care about thinking about me on a regular basis.
But, what about the proposition that what they're thinking is for terrible things to happen to you? Ah, good question. While, she eventually admitted that she would be a "lame ass christian" if she wasn't in some form asking for my heart to change (and I'll give her that) there were a whole series of other requests. Surprisingly, many of those requests are good things that I want for myself.
The furthest I'll go with this is to use an old idiom that I may have been throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Maybe. I'm undecided.
PS. Before telling me all the prayers she has for me this friend said "well blog this". So I did. This one is for you :)
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