Makes no difference who you are.
Or where you are. Or what church you attend. Or what you believe or disbelieve. Or which pair of socks you wore last Thursday.
This is really, really difficult for us humans to accept. Like a child denied a treat, we continue to find ways to expect, to ask, to hope. And then, when some hoped-for thing actually happens, we naturally attribute it to that church, that belief, that pair of socks, because otherwise we must face the universe without hope.
I'm okay with that. In fact, I'm profoundly satisfied with that. I want to look at the universe without flinching. I don't find the universe to be exciting or beautiful (pace Carl Sagan); rather, I find it to be largely empty with random acts of violence, a subset of which I happen to like. The universe does occasionally surprise me, but mostly it's pretty dull. Human beings, otoh, are eternally surprising. Yes, the universe will one day snuff out all of us, but that doesn't make us any less valued, no more than does the fact that a flower will one day fade lessen in the slightest its present beauty.
So, a pox on the desperate hopefulness of religions. Whether its a hope for heaven or nirvana or just avoiding the wrath of the sky god -- or indeed the hope for being cured of a disease or to have the home team win or to get out of this damned foxhole alive -- no matter, I say, it all detracts from our humanity. It demeans us and lessens us. Let us have an end to chanting, an end to prayer circles, an end to offerings. Let us stop trying to petition the Lord with prayer. He ain't at home anyway.
What if all the energy spent in prayerful wishing were spent in doing, instead?
