In my current spiritual malaise I'm finding an automatic reflex troubling. Thanking God.
When good stuff happens, or even just when I hit the cool sheets of my bed, my first instinct is to whisper, "Thank you, God."
But what if there is no God? or I don't know who he is?
I WANT to thank somebody. And to have that option removed would be a big loss. What do I do with that impulse? Thank the "universe?" Thank random chance?
Sometimes I am really grateful. But who am I grateful to?
I don't know if I'm making myself clear. Do you understand what I'm struggling with?
It reminds me of the zealots who emphasize the Christian foundation of the United States. They will speak about the institution of "Thanksgiving Day," and say, "Who do you think they were thanking?" (God, of course.) They have a point.
I'm frustrated with this post because I don't think I have expressed myself well. So, to beat a dead horse... I have strong gratitude impulses. What do I do with them???? What do atheists do with them?? It's hard to imagine a satisfactory answer that doesn't involve god.
I would like an answer too. I do know atheists who do go around thanking the universe. That is the language they use. I understand because I think gratitude is a very important component of our well being. I sometimes pray anyway and sometimes I just meditate on my thankfulness.
ReplyDeleteYou make perfect sense! Did you read the comment by Ehrman in my most recent post. It seems like he struggled with the same thing. That said, sometimes I have my moods where I wonder if the fact I am struggling means that we are hardwired to believe in God, and perhaps our hard-wiring signifies that perhaps, there is a God after all? Wishful thinking?!?
ReplyDeleteOn a tangent....When I was doing an ethics internship, the thing that troubled me was how people could devise ethical theories without having the Bible as a reference point. At the time (and still am) I was a very quantitative, objective processor, part of my scientific bent. Fast forward to now, philosophy interests me now more than ever.
Were you able to comment now on the blog? I hope I fixed your issues.
dude or dude not
ReplyDeleteHopefully I will not degenerate into cliched new age terminology. lol
childlike
some say the same thing about worship. it's hard-wired into us. Sounds good... until they come up with an evolutionary explanation! ugh
I think it's clear that everyone has some ethical framework they maneuver within. It may be a crazy one, but they have one. I was thinking about that recently for myself. Without the bible as a guide, what would I consider to be wrong, and why?
I have not tried to comment on your blog yet, but I will tonight!!! I promise.
PS I hope you both appreciate my pet names for you.
http://acomplicatedsalvationreborn.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/love-this/#comment-4849
ReplyDeleteThis is a (X-rated for reasons I am blind to) beautiful video about how athiests are thankful.
We still pray before meals. Instead of addressing our thanks to god, we just share whatever we are grateful for. Although I do find if I use names other than god, it is easier. Like "life", "the unknowable" or things like that.
I do miss the direction and the comfort the promise of understanding the ? whatever it is that we don't understand but still wish to connect to.
prairienymph
ReplyDeleteI watched that video. It still seems empty to me.
I mean, I can understand and believe that he DOES feel all those things... wonder, awe, amazement, gratitude. But it still seems disconnected to me.
In essence, he has substituted god with "the universe," or "all that is," which, it seems to me, functions for him very much like a god. It just doesn't have a name.
You were making perfect sense to me. I feel much the same way. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-20 says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." I want to give thanks, and was pretty much always in an "attitude" of prayer, continually meditating on and thinking about the "things of God". I'm not quite sure what to do with that now. So I figure that if there isn't a God, nobody knows I'm doing it but me, what can it hurt?
ReplyDeleteD'Ma
ReplyDeleteI won't tell if you don't! lol
Maybe I should see a shrink for the conversations(read:voices) in my head! LOL
ReplyDeleteI can relate!! When I'm riding my bike on a beautiful Spring day, when I gaze into a crisp starry night, when something really great happens, it's natural to be happy and feel you owe thanks to whatever it is that controls these things. I do, sometimes, just extend an unspoken thanks to any intelligent force that may be out there. I don't know the address of my gratefulness, but I send it out anyway because, you're right. It's a natural response.
ReplyDeleteTricia,
ReplyDeleteI tried to post a comment on your blog tonight several times and I kept getting "request could not be processed." I don't know if it was a technical problem with blogger or it isn't liking my openID. In any case, I'm going to post it right here! Maybe you would consider one of the options for commenting on your blog to be name/url. That seems to always work for me. Here's my comment on your 50 reasons post...
Dang! I watched the "delusion bubble" video, and from there somehow I got to http://whywontgodhealamputees.com and spent several hours reading the entire book online. Good read!
On an unrelated note, something about this blog makes me think you are much younger than most of us fellow doubters. Interesting emotions that raises in me... 1) Young people SHOULD believe in God. (kind of like santa claus). 2) What would my life have been like if I hadn't spent so many years wrapped up in what may be a delusion. And 3) It's not fair! You need to go through years of anguish like we have before you're entitled to go free! Otherwise you won't really value it!
Then again, maybe you're 85.