Dear All,

On Feb 17, 4:47 pm, "Hugh Kearnley" <hughkearn...@btinternet.com>
wrote:

If you believe in the power of prayer, that is already a benefit,
because the mind affects the body.  And scientific studies which aim
to measure the benefits of prayer are by definition silly; you can't
apply the rules of science to religion, and vice versa.

It is known that contemplative actions like prayer benefit the mind
and mood.  There have been a number of scientific studies which have
shown that monks who are in the process of meditating or chanting,
experience alterations in their brain chemistry.

I believe the *Absolute Truth* is whatever belief system works for
you.  Whatever enhances your life.  As John Lennon put it, "The
various religions are like different roads converging on the same
point.  What difference does it make if we follow different routes,
provided we arrive at the same destination."  For some people religion
is a crutch that they need to lean on, and others do just fine without
it.  Some can do without it because they're stronger.

Anyway, what difference does it make ultimately what the Truth is?  As
Graham Greene wrote, "The truth has never been of any real value to
any human being -- it is a symbol for mathematicians and philosophers
to pursue.  In human relations, kindness and lies are worth a thousand
truths."

Here's an anecdote relating to that.  A poet named Bridges, who was an
agnostic, wrote to another poet, GM Hopkins, and asked him to tell
him, Bridges, how he could believe.  Hopkins wrote back, "Give
alms."   He advised that Bridges not get so entangled with
intellectual difficulties that he fail to look for God in this way.
The way I see it, religion is baking a pie and bringing it to a sick
neighbor.

The Southern American writer Flannery O'Connor was a devout Catholic.
Once, a student named Alfred Corn, who had attended one of her
lectures, asked her for advice:  After a year in college, he was
losing his religious faith.  He just could not see how religion could
be compatible with reason.

She wrote him a long letter, from which I quote:

"Even in the life of a Christian, faith rises and falls like the tides
of the sea.  It's there, even if he can't see it or feel it, if he
wants it to be there.  You realize, I think, that it is more valuable,
more immense, altogether more mysterious than anything you can learn
upon or decide in college.  Learn what you can, but cultivate
Christian scepticism.  It will keep you free, not free to do whatever
you please, but free to be formed by something larger than your own
intellect or the intellects of those around you."

Having said this, I have to admit that I'm not religious, nor am I
Christian.  And I don't pray.  But as long as people are not trying to
convert me, I can enjoy the pleasures of others' faith.  I have never
had the experience in these forums of anyone telling me what to
believe or worship, even if they themselves have proclaimed their
opinions loudly.  And if they did, so what.  More often, it's the
secularists who proseletyze, IMO.

Just imagine the world without religion.  We would be missing great
art.  Sublime music.  Paintings.  Architecture.  I happen to like
hymns, spirituals and Gospel music, not because I believe in the words
literally, but because it evokes good feelings in me.  Likewise
Christmas carols.

And I completely agree with Hugh that music a pathway to the soul.  I
find spirituality in singing, especially religious songs I learned as
a child.  That makes me feel connected to my family, my ancestors, my
community, and maybe some unorthodox type of God.  In any case,
something larger than myself.

And, as you pointed out, some people do use prayer not as an
opportunity to ask for particular gifts but to reflect on their own
behavior.

There is a guy in another PC group called Quackerback, who I had been
corresponding with for some time about pc-related issues.  I really
liked him: he was funny, smart and personable.  Then, last week he
posted a msg with a link to a "sermon" of his.  I thought it was a
joke!  Turns out I had been dispensing sex advice to a preacher.

I found out that Crackerjack is the pastor of a large church in
Eugene, Oregon. Anyway, in his speech he described his experiences as
a PC patient, and included something at the end that I thought was
really profound.   (Complete text is at: heartofeugene.org/Sermons/
2006/TimeToHeal.htm.)

"[Rabbi] Michael Lerner says that even a cure is not possible, healing
always is.  You see, a cure involves our physical body. Healing
involves that inner process of the mind and the spirit.  There are
people who are cured but are never healed.  And then there are people
who are healed even though they are not cured.

That is the good news given to us --- that healing is possible for
every one of us regardless of our physical health."

Best to you all.

Leah