DISCLAIMER: This is MY opinion. This is NOT a discussion board and I WILL NOT be drawn into a discussion with anyone who might disagree with MY opinion. You are more than welcome to post your comments on this issue, but you will NOT be hearing from me, regardless of whether I agree or disagree with your point of view. You are entitled to you point of view and I will agree to disagree. Please have the same level of respect if you decide to post a comment. Please keep in mind that I am not "attacking" religion, I am not "attacking" any one person. I am commenting on a philosophy of thought.
Early this morning, shortly after I had gotten in to work, I received an e-mail from a co-worker. It had some comments from the sender about why this e-mail was being sent to the receipients. There were 2 comments from the sender. The e-mail was being sent because the receipients were Christian. And the person concerned in this e-mail was the co-worker's friend's mother who was in the 4th stage of cancer. It was a forwarded e-mail and the original e-mail had the following content.
"93% won't forward, but I'm sure you will....
A small request... just one line...
Dear God, I pray for the cure of cancer. Amen.
(this was followed by a picture of a candle then the following script)
All you are asked to do is keep this circulating.
Even if it's only to one more person.
In memory of anyone you know who has been struck down by cancer or is still living with it.
A Candle Loses Nothing by Lighting Another Candle..
Please Keep This Candle Going
END QUOTE.
After reading this e-mail, I prayed the one line prayer and unfortunately, due to the work load I have, proceeded to the tasks I had in hand. I did not do anything more.
I had lunch with this co-worker that sent the e-mail and I said that I had a suggestion in mind. But before I was going to make the suggestion, I requested that she find out 2 things for me.
(1) What Christian denomination her friend and mother were?
(2) Would they be ok if a different denomination came and prayed with her (if the answer to question (1) was different than who I had thought of to go pray with her)?
My co-worker made the phone call immediately. I will not reveal the answer to question (1) because it is truly inconsequential. BUT, the answer to question (1) made question (2) all the more important... ie, the family of the cancer patient was of a different Christian denomination that the person(s) I was going to get to pray with them. The answer to question (2) then became of the utmost importance and to my extreme disappointment, it was a flat out "No". "No" as in, the cancer patient's family did not want a different Christian denomination coming to pray with them.
These were the occurences up to lunch time today and when I had a chance to reflect over these occurences, I came up with this opinion and felt compelled to post this on the blog immediately.
It puzzles me, how one can send out an e-mail to random people (by the way, my co-worker who forwarded the e-mail to me is NOT a Christian and basically has no religion even though Buddhism is primarily practiced in her home) to request them to say a prayer, even to non Christians, but when the offer for prayers with the patient, by Christians of a different denomination is offered, it is completely rejected. I have not even ventured outside of the Christian faith. I can possibly take this further but I am not going to because it is pointless. When the perception is already so myopic, it does me no good to even bring up other faiths outside of the Christian faith. Is YOUR God really different from MINE?
(Please do not interpret the next thoughts as being mean. It is not, it is just me being extremely realistic.)
As a stage 4 cancer patient, prayers are usually not to be saved/cured but rather for peace and acceptance (of death and everything else associated with it). Sure, I have also heard of stories of how some have been saved. Whether I believe those stories or not, it's irrelevant. But, what's relevant is that prayers will bring peace to the patient and to those around the patient, if they believe it will. My thoughts were that if I was at this stage of cancer, anyone and everyone can come pray for me. And because I had been a receipient of the earlier e-mail, I honestly thought that that was the intention. To be surprised at the rejection was wildly shocking because I would think you would need all the prayers in the world to be at peace, let alone be cured. Is one really a believer of God if they just rejected MY God (which by the way, in my opinion is the same God)? Is one really ready to be saved/cured because of these actions? Is there really a difference between YOUR God and MY God? Which Christian denomination is teaching their followers that there is a difference and should they still be termed as Christians if what they teach is not about love but rather about separation? I know how I feel about those questions above. I hope this cancer patient and her family eventually will too.
I am not a mean person. I do not know this cancer patient personally. There is no reason for me to dislike her. I have no idea what ideology she was brought up with. I do not know if this is the wish of her family or herself. So, I will just continue to say a prayer for her. I hope you will too when you read this post. I also pray that one day, from a Christian stand point (one step at a time), we will all see that there is no difference between YOUR God and MY God.
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