Maybe they'd even find my offering of prayer a lazy means to unload responsibility for doing "something useful" like making dinner or babysitting the kids or something. My prayers would likely mean very little to someone who thinks prayer is pointless. To a person who does not necessarily share in religious faith, "thoughts" may be preferable because, as Mary pointed out, "prayers" mean diddly to them.Īnd she's right. To a person of faith, prayer is preferable because prayer means something. Thought is admitting you believe YOU can make something happen. Prayer is admitting that you believe you can ask God to make something happen. Yet those who say "Thinking of you" are effectually saying that they are somehow demigods who, by the sole power of their meager, fleeting thoughts, are able to effect measurable change in a given situation. No one wants to say "praying for you" because it implies that you believe in God and His ability to help (and only the loonies believe in God anymore). I just find the entire semantic discussion to be one of political-correctness. Many gave similar responses to Mary or simply said "Meh, just seemed like the thing to say." Wouldn't that, in effect, be God? So wouldn't thoughts, in effect, be something akin to prayer?Īfter my conversation with Mary, I asked some of my coworkers what their thought-process was behind it. If that's the case, I wonder if these folks would contend that there is a higher-power that collects and balances universal energy. Maybe they did think their thoughts could somehow create "good vibes" that would offset the bad ones (like some sort of karmic see-saw). I then wondered if the coworkers who wrote "Thinking of you" instead of "Praying for you" felt the same way. She responded that the "good vibes" would eventually help the cosmic universe get itself in order. If you want to actively participate in helping the grieving person / family, what will thoughts do? I conceded that her assessment made sense to me, but I wanted to push the idea further. Given her belief that prayer is pointless, substituting "thinking of you" is a more honest approach for someone like her who wants to extend sympathy but not to the point of patronization. When I mentioned this conversation to my friend, Mary, she said that prayer, in her opinion, does nothing. You may as well be telling them that you'll be going out to grab a burger later on. Unless you've got some sort of telekinetic power, thinking about someone means absolutely nothing. Prayer is an active participation in both the grief AND HOPE of both the person suffering and that person's community. Prayer can also comfort the family and friends who mourn the suffering of their loved ones. Prayer can cure illness, speed recovery and shorten the suffering of those on their final journey. To a person of faith, prayer DOES something. So what does thinking of someone actually do? They also contain a message of help ("I'm thinking of you / praying for you"). Sympathy cards contain a message of unity ("I'm sorry for your loss") that conveys a sharing of grief. In my mind, it's a politically-correct, sterilized way to unload responsibility. As I stumbled over more and more "in my thoughts," however, I wondered what that even meant. Given the fact that we work for the Archdiocese, "in my prayers" wasn't a surprise. Some of us were writing things like "You and your family are in my prayers." Others wrote "You and your family are in my thoughts." We decided to send a Mass card with messages of love and prayer to him and his family during this difficult time. A coworker's father has been very ill for the last few weeks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |