Thoughts on prayer inspired by your poll responses and an invitation for those so inclined
Thanks to all who answered my "Is it ok if I pray for you?" poll here on LJ and here on IJ. It's been *very* intriguing to see the results. I think the aggregate results are visible if you go to the post, just not the specifics of who selected which option.
The trends I've noticed are, to go by people's comments, not at all what most would expect. Everyone who commented seemed to think they'd be the only one to respond in such a way. While maintaining the anonymity of those who chose not to have their comments unscreened, I can say that not one of you is alone in your responses.
By and large the "just send good thoughts" option appears to be favored more by people with (so far as I can tell) agnostic or atheistic worldviews, and the occasional "other" paired with a comment along the lines of, "I'd only be uncomfortable with this Deity" come mostly from fellow Pagans. There were a couple of replies that surprised me, in that the respondent didn't mind in the abstract if I was inclined to say a prayer to Whomever for them, but would rather I didn't say anything about it, as that would make them uncomfortable.
My absolute favorite comment: "Well, if something gets into the wrong God's voicemail, I trust it'd be forwarded appropriately."
A few voiced surprise that it could even really be an issue, and I've pondered ways to try to clarify that. Here's the nutshell version I came up with. More holes than Swiss cheese in it, but it'll do for the moment. Let's say you have a clogged drain and nothing you've tried is working on it. I happen to have this friend, Samantha, who is great with drains, so I send her over to help you out. Problem is, you and Samantha do not get along at all, but since I asked, she goes. You, of course, are all polite about telling her "thanks, but no thanks," and nothing really bad comes of it, but the fact remains that I just sent someone over to your house that you don't get along with, and I didn't even ask you first. Good intentions are all well and good, but assuming that one believes in Hell, it's said that the road there is paved with them.
That's how the situation of praying for someone looks, sort of, to me, and to anyone who sees Deities as discrete Beings rather than facets of a single Entity or different names for the same Entity.
Obviously, if you believe They are all facets of or names for a single Entity, or that prayer is primarily sending one's own wishes, energies, or Will, then the question of to Whom one prays becomes a non-issue, and the question of whether someone would be uncomfortable having one or more specific Deities invoked on their behalf seems a bit weird. Ah well, y'all already knew I was weird. *g*
Now for the invitation part: a friend of a friend has rather loosely organized something called "Pink Lotus for Peace," spurred by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Those participating will be lighting a pink candle at 7pm EST (I believe that's midnight GMT and 4pm PST) in memory of those who were killed or injured and their families. For some that'll mean consecrating the candle to a particular Deity, for others it'll mean preparing it to focus specific energies, and for others it'll simply mean holding all those people in their thoughts while lighting the candle. If you would like to participate but don't have a pink candle--or any candle--just do whatever makes sense to you.
The trends I've noticed are, to go by people's comments, not at all what most would expect. Everyone who commented seemed to think they'd be the only one to respond in such a way. While maintaining the anonymity of those who chose not to have their comments unscreened, I can say that not one of you is alone in your responses.
By and large the "just send good thoughts" option appears to be favored more by people with (so far as I can tell) agnostic or atheistic worldviews, and the occasional "other" paired with a comment along the lines of, "I'd only be uncomfortable with this Deity" come mostly from fellow Pagans. There were a couple of replies that surprised me, in that the respondent didn't mind in the abstract if I was inclined to say a prayer to Whomever for them, but would rather I didn't say anything about it, as that would make them uncomfortable.
My absolute favorite comment: "Well, if something gets into the wrong God's voicemail, I trust it'd be forwarded appropriately."
A few voiced surprise that it could even really be an issue, and I've pondered ways to try to clarify that. Here's the nutshell version I came up with. More holes than Swiss cheese in it, but it'll do for the moment. Let's say you have a clogged drain and nothing you've tried is working on it. I happen to have this friend, Samantha, who is great with drains, so I send her over to help you out. Problem is, you and Samantha do not get along at all, but since I asked, she goes. You, of course, are all polite about telling her "thanks, but no thanks," and nothing really bad comes of it, but the fact remains that I just sent someone over to your house that you don't get along with, and I didn't even ask you first. Good intentions are all well and good, but assuming that one believes in Hell, it's said that the road there is paved with them.
That's how the situation of praying for someone looks, sort of, to me, and to anyone who sees Deities as discrete Beings rather than facets of a single Entity or different names for the same Entity.
Obviously, if you believe They are all facets of or names for a single Entity, or that prayer is primarily sending one's own wishes, energies, or Will, then the question of to Whom one prays becomes a non-issue, and the question of whether someone would be uncomfortable having one or more specific Deities invoked on their behalf seems a bit weird. Ah well, y'all already knew I was weird. *g*
Now for the invitation part: a friend of a friend has rather loosely organized something called "Pink Lotus for Peace," spurred by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Those participating will be lighting a pink candle at 7pm EST (I believe that's midnight GMT and 4pm PST) in memory of those who were killed or injured and their families. For some that'll mean consecrating the candle to a particular Deity, for others it'll mean preparing it to focus specific energies, and for others it'll simply mean holding all those people in their thoughts while lighting the candle. If you would like to participate but don't have a pink candle--or any candle--just do whatever makes sense to you.