I wrote up a few through the years and yeah, that was the purpose of prayers. Forbearance and courage. Stamina to get you through the bullshit of life. “Whatever will be, will be”. I mean, we all have limits to our abilities, including planning, cooperation of other people, happenstance.
So what’s left? You hit it on the head. I’d also add love. That’s a big one. You love people from afar, it makes a difference. Internally. It changes your outlook on your fellow person, on yourself, on your future interactions.
My few years in the Orthodox church, mostly fiddling with monastic stuff, church fathers’ writings and things, it was all psychology to me. Not even just some of it. ALL of it. I mean, all of it. Noetic prayer. I got good at it. It’s a skill like any other skill that can be learned.
Doesn’t even matter what the methodology you use, honestly. But when you ‘get it’, you get it.
I’m not part of it now -I’m agnostic. I have friends still there and those that are into the mystical side of it rather than the political side, they get it.
I know people from all walks of life who ‘get it’. I try to encourage people to ‘get it’. Many ways to get there. Even over the Internet, which is my majority contact with people anyway.
I notice people. I see where they change their approach towards other humans. The way that talk with people. Angry fighting people suddenly get a softer tone. They listen more. Use all of their knowledge instead of fighting for some cause of “us vs them”.
Civility. One of the good things of religions when done right is they teach civility. They all have it in them somewhere.
Also, some people don’t understand what worship is.
Worship is respect and gratitude That’s it. It’s respect and gratitude Are you glad to wake up in the morning? I am. I say thanks. Who am I thanking? Doesn’t matter. It’s good psychologically to be grateful. Humility is having respect.
So somebody says “Thanks God – you’re awesome!” and somebody else says, “Thanks bed for keeping me warm”. and someone else says “Thank you Sun for rising today and not pointing a nasty sunspot our way and wrecking communications.”
Does it matter? I never understood the fuss of trying to make someone see everything from one’s own perspective.
I mean, I do it too. My perspective is, let other people have their perspective and find ways to make their perspectives and yours mesh up, in the areas that they don’t mesh up, generally let them be… unless they want to debate for fun – ’cause it can be fun to debate sometimes and discuss other times.
One of my favorite religions I wrote up was a Science religion. I chose the Primal Star (“light before the light” in Genesis – that was my Science-y justification for that Genesis when I was into Christian stuff), the giant molecular gas cloud, and gravity as the three main objects of respect.
After all, they together literally made us, us as far as we know. All the elements. The computer I’m working on. There’s nothing that’s around me that wasn’t literally created by the workings of those things together over time.
Other parts of the religion has songs worshiping (respect and gratitute) each of the elements, having songs sung describing their properties.
A science experient for everyone to see each week.
Basically, a combination of learning and gratitude that’s all science.
Actually, the first one would be physics and chemistry really. For the purists. For some people, that’s ALL Science is: physics and chemistry. Not so much theoretical physics though ’cause that’ s mostly sci-fi, but I suppose that can get its due too. Just the testable stuff.
Mathematics could get their own religion anyway, ’cause some people already believe the Universe is mathematics.
I could do others as well. I mean psychology/sociology can almost get a 1:1 correspondence for most of the lessons taught in churches. and such so that’d be a no-brainer.
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