Prayers and Faith Can Be Expressions of Hope and Optimism

I am a skeptic.  Much of formal religion, with its creeds, stories and decrees I find illogical and superstitious.  But I try to be open-minded about issues of faith and prayer, because I know that they have powerful effects on people and I believe that they incorporate a very human need for hope and optimism.

We are born into this world with an uncertain future and with our mortality slowly creeping up on us.  We are bound to experience heartache, failure, disappointment and even tragedy along the way.  We will also have joy, fascination, pleasure and ecstasy.  Life is a mixed bag but the drumbeat of the finite time we are allowed cannot help but make us somewhat anxious.

 

Religion and spirituality are there to reassure us that there is some meaning to life beyond our physical selves and our short human trajectory.  In moments of bravado, we may claim to be perfectly happy with a materialistic, beautiful-universe concept of existence, but I do not wish for my existence to end with death.

 

If we say that we have faith in God and that we pray, it does not have to mean that we subscribe to any particular creed or even understand what that faith or prayer will accomplish.  Faith and prayer are expressions of hope for meaning in life, and optimism that good things will happen.  I pray for someone to get well, not because I believe God is arranging things and may intercede, but simply to express my love and hope that somehow they will get well. 

 

I have faith that there is something eternal, some form of love that prevails in this universe.  I do not choose to associate that faith with any religion or philosophy because my rational mind finds too many flaws in their representations.  But I can appreciate the beauty and sagacity of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, of David’s Psalms, of the Koran, of the Upanishads, and of every good faith effort to guide human thought and behavior.  I embrace what makes sense and I discard what divides and is clearly an expression of outmoded social or political manipulation.

 

The mystery of our life and existence is both exhilarating and frightening.  It is understandable to want to take refuge in a well-defined religious worldview.  But the march of time and of human knowledge and experience have challenged us to accept ambiguity and reject dogma.  

Perhaps our death will make it all clear.  Until then, we have faith and prayer to console us.