But I do know that I would not have considered it a miracle, and I might not have experienced the profound hope that it gave me. It helps me focus on what I need to do, whether I want to or not, because it removes my ego from the conversation. Prayer is a superpower we can access to better understand ourselves and our place in the world, and we don’t have to be religious to do it. My “miracle from God” during Christmas 2017 was not the first I experienced. When I was 12 or so, my grandfather lost his battle with cancer while I was away at science camp. Then, one night, I had a dream. It was unlike any other dream I’ve ever had, and in my mind, it still remains the last time I ever saw my grandpa. But that summer was also when a homicidal ISIS recruit drove a truck through crowds of people on Bastille Day. More interestingly, prayer may be associated with all the benefits stemming from the “placebo response,” — reconceived as a powerful mind-body phenomenon — yielding potential significant treatment gains. My evolution into a rational adult brought the growing pains of divorcing my concept of a higher power from some damaging ideas I once nurtured. I think we could all use a little more of that. Information about your device and internet connection, including your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps. 1-866-753-5496 The only agnostic prayer I'm aware of goes something like this: God (if indeed there is a God; I'm not certain) save (if "save" is indeed the right word; I'm not sure) my soul (if I have a soul, that is). To me, he’d always seemed kind of grumpy, and it wasn’t the kind of relationship for verbal affirmations. I discovered God in my adolescent years through the fervent teachings of a Southern Baptist youth group. Honesty brings insight. They had learned the news just in time for their first Christmas without their son. That summer brimmed with French wine, freedom, and the warm waters of the Mediterranean. In that space was my grandpa, healthy and handsome with all his hair, and he was smiling at me. But perhaps we can conclude that a person’s prayer is only as good as their own moral character — that a sign from God is really a message sent from one’s own deepest self, rooted in desires that we may or may not be consciously aware of. It’s easy to scoff at these people, especially when God doesn’t similarly intervene in the direst of circumstances. A classmate of mine — a handsome Berkeley student from Italy — had been left laying on the pavement for hours before his body was identified. Maybe God wanted Heemeyer to cut gun ports into his bulldozer, endanger the lives of many, commit millions of dollars of damage to a city, and die by suicide in the driver’s seat. To be clear, prayer is never the solution to anything. But I was back with my family for this Christmas. People contribute specific names and this plea for those individuals’ health becomes a collective recognition of the wish for healing. 12. I don’t pray very often, though I should. That is, until I took a last scroll through Facebook and saw this headline: “Christmas Miracle Comforts Parents of Nice Terrorist Attack Victim.”. For all intents and purposes, everything was the same as it had been for the past 20 years. truck through crowds of people on Bastille Day, Christmas Miracle Comforts Parents of Nice Terrorist Attack Victim, ultimately the science remains inconclusive, God doesn’t similarly intervene in the direst of circumstances, I Bought a Gun Because I’m Terrified of What Will Happen After Election Day, What Your Therapist Means When They Ask You to ‘Sit With Your Feelings’, How We’ll Get Over: Going to The Upper Room With Donald J. Trump, The Risks of Taking My Quarantine Romance from DM to IRL, A Therapist’s Advice on Cultivating Love During Times of Grief, Reclaiming Friendship in the Age of Isolation, Why I Hate Abortion but Believe in the Right to Choose. The Dalai Lama saying for the billionth time that altruism is the root of happiness, and this time it sticks. An epiphany. When you send your intention for a prayer for healing, Native American children at St. Labre will pray on your behalf in weekly Mass. But I did love him. The middle-of-the-night idea that takes on a life of its own and rides you around until you see it through. I didn’t regret missing the funeral again after that. Or if he ignored them. Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. My own ideas of God are continually evolving. Of course, there are the “miracles everywhere” people, who swear they receive divine images on their toast or that a certain song on the radio told them to invest in real estate. If he doesn’t save the sick child of praying parents, why should he help me with my chemistry exam? Lying in bed the night before this Christmas Eve, I delivered an ultimatum to God, who had been earning less of my trust and attention for months: “Whatever you are, if you exist, and if there is any goodness within you, show me a miracle tomorrow, or I will never believe in you again.”, Christmas Day had come and gone, the pie eaten, the cousins gone, and although I was feeling abysmal, I’d forgotten about my prayer. He believed that every step in his planning and preparation would have been thwarted if God had not wanted him to follow through. A Prayer for Healing and Grace Dear God, We confess our need for you today. And every night for weeks, I prayed to God to let him know that. Learning a better way. It was Christmas Eve, but it sure didn’t feel like it. It had rained that night, and an image of him crumpled and unclaimed wouldn’t leave my mind. In 2004, when Marvin John Heemeyer was fortifying his Komatsu bulldozer to demolish the town of Granby, Colorado, for the perceived wrongs its residents had committed against him, he said that it was God’s will. Prayer, either for oneself or others, is an act of love. For me, talking to God evokes a powerful feeling of love, acceptance, and connection within me. But what about those times when our prayers lead to inexplicable coincidences — or even “miracles”? An apology and forgiveness. Many crimes carried out by religious people have involved “instruction from God.” I wonder if the driver in the Nice attack, who was willing to die for his cause, believed he had received such signs. In my heart of hearts, I want to believe in a benevolent, omnipotent force. We hugged, and I could feel the texture of his polo shirt and smell the familiar detergent. We need hope restored. There have only been a handful of times I’ve asked God for some kind of sign or intervention. It was blazing in my head when his parents flew out the next day to stand vigil with us, and I could scarcely stand it. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy Controls. The previous Christmas Eve, I’d watched a midnight Mass outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. No, that will take serious work by My relationship with God has been inconsistent at best. As I fall asleep, I list all the things that I’m worried about and all the things I’m thankful for. Many people turn to religion when they go through tough times or traumatic experiences. Christmas no longer held the magic of an infallible ritual. Or maybe Heemeyer, at the core of his being, wanted to commit those acts and chose to believe it was God’s will. But there had been snipers on the rooftops protecting the gathering from an ISIS threat — their eerie silhouettes surrounding Jesus’ supposed birthplace (which I’d recently learned was up for debate). And I think I’m a better person for it. Everyone involved, whom I’d missed last Christmas, was still alive and in relatively good health. I was in a space of complete nothingness, but the nothingness was filled with white light and a feeling of absolute peace that I’d never experienced before. Beyond the emotional comfort, some studies have shown that the act of praying can help in terms of healing health problems largely associated with stress — although ultimately the science remains inconclusive. If signs from God are really a heightened awareness of our own inner selves, an organic organ providing us with a transformative experience, then what could be more divine? We need to … Eighty-six people died, and hundreds were injured. Many of us that grew up in religious homes was taught to pray to god to supply your needs. We need your healing and your grace. Between the time I had finished my semester abroad and arrived at this Christmas Eve, I had spent a summer studying in Nice, France. A few days earlier, the parents of the deceased Berkeley student had learned that two local women had stayed with him on the pavement all night long, surrounding him with candles and praying through the rain. The funeral was held just days later, and not wanting to pull me out of the experience, my parents left me at camp. Prayer is a superpower we can access to better understand ourselves and our place in the world, and we don’t have to be religious to do it. Nothing had changed. If done in earnest, it’s an act of unadulterated honesty. Christians and Healing (agnostic, prayer, disciples, grace) User Name Remember Me Password [] Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! When I do pray, it’s more often a form of meditation. I’m sure I agreed with their decision at the time, but in the weeks to follow, my guilt over missing the funeral and never telling my grandpa I loved him ate me up inside. Whatever sensations and sentiments I’d associated with the holiday since infancy were illusions kept alive by my loved ones — and they were so very fallible, so very vulnerable. It’s peace in knowing you will do all you can and nothing more. To enable Verizon Media and our partners to process your personal data select 'I agree', or select 'Manage settings' for more information and to manage your choices. On that Christmas Eve, had I not prayed to God the night before, would I have seen that fateful Facebook article? His parents intended to track down the women and thank them. We can’t know what is really going on in other people’s heads. It is incredibly cathartic and comforting to humble myself before God (or the universe or whatever word you choose to define that higher power) and truly realize how much is beyond my control and, therefore, not worth worrying about.

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