Tag: faith

The Dear God Project

Jun. 28 Featured Posts 2 comments

It is said that there is power in numbers.  Why not use those numbers to help your prayer reach God?  That is the idea behind the Dear God Project, a global platform for sharing inner hopes, fears and aspirations through the medium of prayer. With just a simple click of a button, you can submit your prayer or request and have others pray on your behalf.   You can submit a prayer directly on the site, through Facebook or via Twitter.  Either way, just the simple act of voicing your prayer will bring it that much closer to being answered.

To help inspire you, here is a sampling of the top prayers.

Is the world ending? I don’t want the world to end.  I like my life and have things planned.  I know though when you have things planned they never go the way you imagine.  Its scary the stuff that goes on in the world.  I pray for Japan and all the people there, i pray all survivors will be found and saved, please rest on the land and with the people.  I know theres more to life than the mundane drill of 9-5.  i know i have to do that in order to survive but i know theres  more to tap in to, please show it to me.  Take fear away from my life and the lives of others and i pray we will all live in peace.  Please take away the fears in my heart.  I say thank you for my life, please help me to live it to the full. Please give me energy everyday and energy to others who need it. I pray love and beauty will grow in me, mylife, my relationships and in others. – 267 PRAYERS

I have been typing everything that I tried to put into words, but I end up getting tongue twisted and erased all. I miss You.. I miss talking to you in the morning right when I wake and I miss saying goodnight to you before I sleep. I miss the feeling of Your unconditional love that I consistently dwelled in. There are so many things holding me back to be the person You want me to be, and I’m here asking for help.. Life has been a wreck, full of bad decisions and built up anger and unforgiveness without You. I know that church cannot save us, but I want to be able to find people to open up to and fellowship with real believers. So here I am.. On bended knees, offering everything that is left of me. Mold me, guide me, walk beside me<3 - 114 PRAYERS

The words “I’m sorry” don’t seem to suffice the situation. I have walked away from our union. I turned my back on you and demanded a divorce. I asked that we remain friends if you can even call it that. I was abusive in the way that I expected you to fulfill my every fancy but ask for nothing from me in return. I had hoped to go on living my life without ever giving you another thought. It has been impossible. Every day revolves around you. I hear your name whispered from the lips of my friends and family. I see you in my dreams, you encase my every thought. I have known all along what I have been missing. I was afraid of what my life could become with you. I was afraid of just how high I could soar with you. I hope that you will take me back, that I can somehow reconcile our marriage. I will strive to be the kind of woman that you have created me to be. All I have to offer is myself, so that is what I will give. My heart is yours. I only hope that you find me worthy of your grace and forgiveness. I offer you my love, and hope to feel yours once again.- 126 PRAYERS

I want to be an instrument of Your love and mercy, but my heart is filled with such hate and anger. Please forgive me for everytime I refused to love because I felt wronged. Please lead me by Your example so I can live a life that is pleasing to you. Lead me to do things out of love simply because it is the right thing to do. Heal me, tame my heart. – 183 PRAYERS

When all else fails, and even before, you’re there. Thank you. You are my rock, and you are my redeemer. – 226 PRAYERS

Please open up my eyes, dear Lord that I might clearly see. Help me stand for what is right, bring out the best in me. Help me, Lord, to just say “no” when temptation comes my way, that I might keep my body clean. When my teenage years are over, I know that I will see that life is lived its very best with you walking next to me. – 246 PRAYERS

 

Dear God Project:  official website, Twitter, Facebook

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Faith and Psychiatry

May. 26 Science 1 comment

Spirituality and/or religion are often integral to helping fix some of the emotional problems that send average Americans running into the offices of mental health specialists.  For example,when a patient is depressed, they will often ask what the point is in continuing their lives.  Sometimes the answer can be obtained by having the psychiatrist integrate the patient’s spiritual or religious beliefs with traditional psychiatric treatment to find out what gives their lives meaning.

The need to integrate a person’s spiritual or religious beliefs into their treatment is embodied by Victoria Maxwell.  In 1992, Victoria had a psychotic event where she ran around shouting “I am one with God”.  That episode began a series of treatments which didn’t really address the root of the problem: 

“The one element, which could have helped me accept treatment more readily, was overlooked. My spiritual beliefs were not only ignored, but more accurately actively avoided. Care providers were reluctant to discuss spiritual topics for fear of destabilizing my mood…  But this was a most heartfelt dilemma and conflict I needed to reconcile in order to start the healing process… Because facets of my psychoses felt life changing, I was at odds with the medical profession. How could I label something of such significance as only pathological? I sat on the edge of my hospital bed, despondent and unclear as to how to reconcile accepting that I had a mental illness without abandoning my spiritual insights by calling them delusional.”

Victoria would be glad to know that if she had faced the same problems today, things might have turned out a bit differently.  On Friday, May 20, 2011, one hundred experts in the field of psychiatry came together  to discuss this very subject. The conference was held in Vermont and was  titled “Spirituality in Clinical Practice: Exploring Advantages and Pitfalls in Addressing Client Spirituality.”

At the conference, psychiatrists stated that now that they’ve actively decided to integrate a patient’s spiritual beliefs with treatment, they face two distinct challenges:  1) not letting their own beliefs interfere with the patient’s needs and 2) patients feel guilt or mistrust of psychiatry because they are not giving God a chance to heal their suffering.  In the past, psychiatrists have solved issue # 1 by tactfully and respectfully refraining from discussing their own beliefs.  However, this has started to change as some psychiatrists start working with local pastors and other local religious leaders to find a way to help their patients.  Regarding issue # 2, one man’s answer was: “I’m going to sound simplistic, but the key question (for the patient) is do you know all the ways God heals? And perhaps a follow-up. Aren’t you limiting the ways God can carry out healing (by) creating a distinction that what we’re trying to do in psychotherapy is unfaithful or ungodly.”

Finding the right kind of help is of utmost importance for a rapid healing and recovery process.  Therefore, if you or someone you know is in need of psychiatric treatment, don’t be afraid to ask your practitioner if they are willing to incorporate your spiritual or religious beliefs into the treatment.  The worst thing that could happen is that they refer you to another psychiatrist.  And that wouldn’t be so bad would it?

 

To read the Bennington Banner article go here.

To read Victoria Maxwell’s story go here.

Photo courtesy of nondani.

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US Religious Knowledge Survey

May. 19 Religion no comments

Agnostics and atheists score the highest in a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center on questions regarding the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

The study was conducted along with the Social Science Research Solutions and surveyed 3412 adults living in the continental United States.  Interviewers asked 32 questions and found that on average Americans answered 16 of them correctly.

Atheists and agnostics scored 20.9 followed by Jews (20.5) and Mormons (20.3).  White evangelical Protestants scored a 17.6 while white mainline Protestants scored a 15.8.  There was also a marked difference in responding Catholics with white Catholics scoring a 16.0 and Hispanic Catholics scoring an 11.6.  People who were religious but followed no particular religion scored a 15.2.

The study also found that how much schooling an individual has completed is the number one factor influencing their religious knowledge.  College attendees were found to have answered an average of eight questions more than people with a high school education or less.

Previous surveys by the Pew Research Center have shown that America is among the most religious of the world’s developed nations. Nearly six-in-ten U.S. adults say that religion is “very important” in their lives, and roughly four-in-ten say they attend worship services at least once a week. But the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey shows that large numbers of Americans are uninformed about the tenets, practices, history and leading figures of major faith traditions – including their own. Many people also think the constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools are stricter than they really are.

To read the original U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey go here.

 

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