If you want a concrete example of the practice of living in the present moment, surfers, take a look at the blog by Stephanie’s mom. All I can say is: Wow! Thank you for this.
“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on High? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” Micah 6:6-7
We can see how we prayed in the ancient past, perhaps even today.
That night, my husband and I did not sleep at all. We wept and wept. Privately, we each pleaded with the universe to make the follow-up sonogram come out normal. We offered up our own body parts in exchange: eyes, arms, feet.
The universe was deaf.
In the future how will we pray? In the realm of keeping an open mind, I have another blog for your review, dear surfers. While you are at the blog, leave a message of encouragement.
The benefits of praying are widely debated. The blogger, and a friend of the blogger, have an opinion that is common for many people today.
For a more scientific look at prayer, surfers, head over to the Dr. Larry Dossey interview with Oprah. Dr. Larry was discussing topics from his book Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine. The book identifies statistical studies that show prayer is proven to work in the medical field. You must make up your own mind, surfers.
I came away from this book [Healing Words by Larry Dossey] largely unconvinced that non-local intercessory prayer can be scientifically equated with the effects of human consciousness on random machine activity as demonstrated by Jahn and his colleagues at the PEAR. Nevertheless, I was arrested by a charming little tale inserted almost as an afterthought into the last section of the book. Dossey tenderly recounts a visit to a patient of his who was dying of cancer. The dying man had never been a religious person, but revealed to the doctor that he had been praying frequently. When asked what he prayed for, he replied that he didn’t pray for anything.
“How would I know what to ask for?” he queried.
“Well,” said Dossey, “if prayer is not for asking, then what is it for?”
“It isn’t for anything,” the patient responded, “it mainly reminds me that I am not alone.”
Somebody say Amen.
Bernard N. Nathanson, M.D.
