Prayer

When I logged on to Facebook this morning I found a prayer request from someone who I don't know in person, but had interacted with on another site for several years. This person's mother was ill, but rather than just asking for people to pray for her mother, she requested only those who pray "in the name of Jesus Christ". She went on to specifically decline good intentions and positive thoughts. Fine. Do what you want. But this attitude does nothing to help her mother and just angers or irritates those may have sent "good intentions and positive thoughts". Are these thoughts and intentions harmful to her mother? Even if you believe that only prayer directed to the biblical god "in the name of Jesus Christ" is effective and legitimate, what is the purpose of pointing out to those who you have chosen to be Facebook friends with that any care and love that they may have for her and her mother is unwanted? Personally I don't pray, but have no problem with people praying for my health and well being to any god and in any form that they want. I have a problem with people who pointedly tell me how my spirituality is wrong or substandard or is sending me to Hell, but believe that there is plenty of room in this world for diversity of belief and don't presume to judge the validity of other people's faith or philosophy.

A while back I encountered a couple though Facebook whom I had lost track of about 20 years ago. They were the best man and maid of honor at my first marriage ceremony and they had been my roommates when I first lived in Lincoln. I thought it would be nice to stay in touch and catch up on the intervening years, as I do with other "long-lost" relatives, neighbors and friends who I reconnected with on Facebook. It didn't take long for them to begin to question my spiritual beliefs, which had changed quite a bit since we had last met. Theirs had as well, but while they viewed their own changes as "good change", my changes were viewed negatively. I was told very clearly that if I was not worshiping their god (in the manner that they did) then they wanted nothing to do with me.

It's a shame how people cut themselves off from others like this. I hope this person's mother comes through her illness well, and empathize with her and her request for prayer. I never would have commented on her post with a remark about how I don't pray - in fact I never use prayer requests to get on my soapbox. It's sad that this person has cut out the care and sympathy that others may have had, just because they do it a little differently than the approved method.