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Prayers are directed to powers greater than human. Wishes are desires manifested in humanities' dreams according to Sigmund Freud. Mythology exists in all cultures and seems to have the same elements in all cultures as described in detail by Joseph Campbell et al. Religion was invented by humanity to explain the unexplainable according to some philosophers. No matter how one boils it down, the hopes and desires of mankind are expressed in all prayer. One unknown philosopher said, "Do not take away a person's hope because it may be all they have." This segment of the web site tries to bring together the elements of prayer that relate to hope and humor in addition to the beauty and inspiration of the human spirit as expressed in the small sampling put together here. Please feel free to comment and offer suggestions for additions to these expressions.
One Personal Collection of BeliefsWhen I went to the University of Minnesota, I met my first atheist instructor. One of the students tried to convert him the first hour of class. When he failed, the student walked out forever. I stayed because the class was about old fashioned Humanities. i.e. The great works of mankind. We studied the translation of "Dante's Inferno" among other works. Today, Humanities is mostly about the differences between men and women. After marriage and working at 20the Century Fox Film Corporation, I met a computer salesman who had been a Barnum Bailey and Ringling Brothers Circus clown in a prior profession. He was also an agnostic who played it safe by hoping God existed. He always saw the glass of water as half full. While I believe there is a force greater than all of us, I also believe there is a little bit of God in each of us. As an aside, I learned about St. Augustine in Humanities class. St. Augustine rationalized that since God created everything, everything had to be good. Therefore, he asked, "What is evil?" Since God gave us free will, "Evil is the misdirection of will." Not bad for a saint who gambled and went to the cat houses until he was 35 and prayed to God to "Make me good. But not yet." Two beliefs derived from the war between good and evil have shaped me forever. When anyone truly looks into the soul of another, they see a mirror reflection of themselves. i.e. The cliche "Happy is a moron. Gee, I wish I was a moron." is a universal reflection of the thought that ignorance is bliss. On the other hand, we could be the bum in the gutter just as easily as not and it scares the hell out of most of us. When I was a teenager, I told my Mom that I thought I would make a very good crook. She replied, "No. You wouldn't. I asked, "Why not?" She said, "Because you have to face yourself in the mirror each morning. To relate to Mom's answers, try this version of how to get someone to hate you. Just imitate all the things you don't like about a person and they will grow to hate you. Why? Because you are a mirror of all the things they don't like about themselves. Or, the converse also is true. How do you get someone to love you? Just imitate all the things you like about a person and they will grow to love you because they see a mirror of all the things they like about themselves. If you don't believe the power of thought and prayer after considering these ideas, then you are probably not a compassionate person nor very sympathetic to the plight of your fellow human beings. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is feel you are not alone. Remember, you are not judged by how much you love others but by how much others love you. |
Eddie Murphy Lyrics - I'm a Believer
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