Somewhat similar – does anyone else get miffed when they go out of there way to help someone else, and that person just keeps going on and on about 'Praise God" and “Thank you Jesus” and all? (Yes, I am an atheist.)
I’m thinking of a particular case – it was a nasty, rainy day and I offered what I thought would be a quick lift to a bus stop to someone who works in the same building as I do, though I didn’t know her otherwise. Well, she had an amazing sob story (and I believe it was all pretty much true, due to other corroborating events since) but that “quick lift” ended up taking nearly two hours as I ferried her to drug store, back to work for the forgotten script, back to the drug store, then to a grocery story, and finally to a transportation hub nearly 15 miles away because she’d missed all the ‘good’ bus connections by then.
And, as I said, between filling me in on the horrible details of her life and how it got to that point she kept coming out with those “Thank you Jesus” stuff. Even after I pointed out, trying to make a joke of it, that I was one of those horrible secular humanists.
On the one hand, yes, it was clear she was grateful. OTOH, it really started getting to me. It was my time, my car/gas, my money that paid for the prescription, my having had a charitable impulse that got the ball rolling. I was doing all the work and it felt like she saw me as just a tool, a robot maybe, that Jesus was steering around. :mad:
Towards the end I was fantasizing stopping the car and kicking her out, with a cheery little “I’m sure the next Jesus-cab will be along any minute” as a goodbye.
I can’t understand this at all. If there are 10 candidates for a job and everyone has all their people (let’s say equal numbers) praying for them to get the job do the prayers cancel each other out? Did the person who did get the job have better prayers in his corner? …an extra person praying?
Mild hijack - I really hate the voice mails with “have a blessed day” as part of the message. Does everyone deserve a blessed day? A blessing for a thief might be evasion of the law - not much of a blessing to his victims - but then the victim didn’t call that particular number so didn’t get the electronic blessing.
Many years ago I had a seriously ill baby (sparing you the boring details, he was $740,000 dollars worth if ill).
Later, a family member said something to the effect of “I knew he was going to get better because I prayed for him every day.” This person knows I am an atheist (and it bugs them). I said something like “Well, as a non believer I never did that” and she replied something along the lines of “Well, it’s a good thing I did, then.”
It seems like she was trying to say she “had pull” with god that I obviously didn’t have, or that she was trying to take credit for my son’s good outcome somehow when she had nothing to do with it, really.
I have always felt that his good outcome is related to his innate hardiness, some really good luck and heaps and heaps of top-notch medical care. She thinks it’s because she prayed.
This woman is a bit of a know it all, anyway. I get lots of parenting advice from her such as “There’s nothing wrong with him a good spanking won’t cure.” Well, I guess we can halt all that autism research now." :rolleyes:
Or when he choked and needed to be heimliched… She told me that next time I should just hang him upside down by he feet and shake him realy good. I can’t believe that in the last 15 years, she’s never noticed that I am a registered nurse and might know how to handle a choking incident.
Anyway, I just let that stuff go. There is certainly no point in discussion the praying stuff with her- she thinks she’s done a good deed. I just hope I never choke at her house!
I don’t find it offensive if it’s for inconsequential things, though it is silly. If someone started in on me about prayer and healing sick people, I’m offended and amazed.
Maybe, “Praise be to the Lord for presenting you with great challenges to overcome which have allowed your many strengths to be utilized in such a way to make it possible for you to earn a promotion,” is just too wordy.
Since several people referenced my words in their posts, I guess I should respond to them.
There are two things at work here. One is that I’m not comfortable with God as a Cosmic Bellboy, doing what I want when I want it . On the other hand, I find myself in the position of claiming to believe in a God who can perform miracles, and yet not expecting God to actually perform miracles. But I’m very good at painting targets around the holes in the barn to “prove” that God answers prayer.
The other factor is that the woman who annoyed me seemed a bit too convinced that she is the center of the universe, things would happen the way she wanted them. I fear she bosses people around as well as God (or is it I fear she bosses God around as well as people?)
Seven:
You will forgive me, I hope if I find your willingness to pass the blame to Jesus for bad things less than entirely admirable? Amusing, yes, admirable, not so much.
jali:
Well, all it would have taken was faith in this lady’s prayers, so I guess if I’d believed in her hard enough I’d have gotten the job. She’s special that way. I’m pretty sure that she made some comment that indicated that her prayers were superior to other people’s prayers.
It’s called the sin of pride, and it’s just beggin’ for a smitin’: truly humble Christians shouldn’t assume, particularly aloud, that they have God’s ear.
If there’s anyone out there who’s in the habit of praying for others, I could use a big lotto win, a couple of hot mistresses, and a wife who wouldn’t mind my inevitable post-win life of excess.
[QUOTE=lorene]
Well, as I said, I don’t get offended at all by the offering of prayers. I know that that is her way of wanting the best for me. But like Eureka said, it’s the assumption that events which are generally merit-based (a touchdown, a job offer, etc) is the direct intervention of God that bugs me.
QUOTE]
On these kind of things, I’d say you were wrong to be offended. One thing is that you don’t know what she was praying. Another thing is, doing hard, good work doesn’t get recognition. Getting the boss’s favor, office politics, etc… serve in getting one good recognition, promotions, and such. At one job that I had, basically the only way to get anything above a ‘competent’ rating was to do something that only the administration was empowered to do. I think that it was at least a small miracle that you didn’t get fired for doing a good job. This may be what your mother was praying for. Or maybe a good job fit.
hh
