Why Prayer is like hay.
Many years ago I owned a ranch in Texas.
A lady called one day wanting to buy some hay and inquired about the price. I told her it was 3.00 per bale. She became indignant and told me that my friend Jack, (another rancher) sold his for 2.50 per bale. I asked, "Then why don't you buy from him?" She replied, "Because he doesn't have any." To which I replied, "Well, when I don't have any I lower my price to 1.00 per bale.
Prayer is kinda like hay when you don’t have any. You could lower the price to zero and it would have the same effect. In fact, if it were hay we could lower the price to zero and the neighbors cows would still starve to death.
And this is exactly why it upsets me for people to say they will pray for me. I know that prayer does no good whatsoever. Its no better than the $1.00 hay when there is none. I will starve to death on it, as the person doing the praying goes happily on their way, looking for another starving victim to help.
We can take the example even further. What if I had sent the lady in need of the hay a few dollars along with my non-existent hay? This is no different than people who think they should put 10% of their earnings in the collection plate for their preacher who only fools them into thinking he has something of value to offer.
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What Jerree Richardson should know:
ReplyDeleteThe Church and religion of today bares little comparison to the small group of Jesus’ Jewish followers in Jerusalem. The first converts on the Day of Pentecost were all Jews. Peter convicted them of causing the death of Jesus. They repented and were baptized continuing to worship in the name of Yeshua (or the one we call Jesus). They continued observing Jewish law worshiping in the Temple as well as meeting in small groups to observe Yeshua. That was the first church. Saul of Tarsus whom we know as Paul established churches in the Greek world. He allowed uncircumcised gentiles into the church. This “change” upset many in Jerusalem. Some considered him a heretic. When he returned to Jerusalem, he was arrested and ended up in Rome where he was later put to death. The church continued to change until it had lost its Jewish identity and became influenced by Greek culture. During the early stages the only “scriptures” they had were the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament) and a few of the many letters Paul had written and other writings such as the Gospels. The process to assemble our Bible began about 140 A.D. and wasn’t officially recognized until a mandate by the Roman Emperor in 397 A.D. Many of the books such as Revelation, Hebrews, James, 2nd. Peter, 2nd and 3rd. John and Jude were among those disputed. Some such as Revelation are still disputed. Our Bible includes just a few of the various gospels, acts, revelations, and other such writings. The other works were produced by those who considered themselves Christians, but not accepted by what became the “Orthodox Church”. It is ironic that Jesus' own group under the leadership of his brother James was among those groups rejected by the Orthodox church. Hundreds of years later Protestants rejected the “Orthodox Church”. There are now thousands of different churches with new ones opening in vacant stores and other temporary locations simply calling themselves “Non-denominational”. Whatever your religion is today, you must admit it was the result of a group accepting change in such a way as to find a faith that was meaningful to them. You simply inherited this faith from others such as parents or were influenced to accept it by someone you trust. But make no mistake, it is changing. The church this writer identified with fifty-five years ago is different. It has changed. He has changed. It will continue to change. He will continue to change. You will continue to change. People will complain about those changes as they always have, but change is happening now.
So, who really destroyed the religion of Jesus? Was it the Apostle Paul? The Roman controlled Church? The Protestants? Fundamentalist Christians? After 56 years of study and reading hundreds of books (I have nearly 30 alone about Jesus in my library)including most of the early church "fathers" as they tried to establish an established orthodox religion.; I have found that was not a scheme by atheists or scientists, but religious people themselves who keep destroying someone's religion.
Jim
People have been praying to some god or goddess for thousands of years. Achilles, hero of the battle of Troy prayed to his god as well as others involved. You will find accounts where nearly all nations had one or more gods to whom they prayed. The bible gives an account of two thousand years of reaching out to God to save themselves. The result, 400 years of slavery to Egypt plus being controlled by them for many more; what was King David's empire destroyed by the Assyria in the 8th century BCE; Judah was captured and their Temple destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BCE; under control of Persia 439 BCE ; controlled by Greek empire from 333 BCE until the Romans took control in 63 BCE; and finally destroyed by the Romans in CE 70 and forbidden to return in 135 CE. They were finally allowed to return in 1947 after WWII. We have a record of their devotion to one God for four thousand years. Prayer was and is a vital part of their religious life. Why didn't prayer work. Possible answers: 1. There is no god; 2. There is a god who doesn't get involved; 3. There is a god who hears, but wants his people to suffer; 4. There may be a creator (or creative process) which began the creation of our universe billions of years ago which requires constant change and we humans are just a small part of that process.
ReplyDeleteAs part of this creation we have little control over nature, but can control how we interact with other created humans in such a way as to avoid wars and doing harm to each other. That takes respect from all humans. Our creator or the process endowed us with a brain so we may learn how to find cures for sickness and solve other problems to make life better for us. If this be the case, why pray? Some possible answers; 1. We still believe it works like good luck charms; 2. It is a desperate attempt to do something; 3. We pray simply to show our concern and best wishes to those suffering; 4. Something even non-religious people might say like "I'll keep you in my prayers (meaning thoughts).
Jim