why do non christians, page-72

"The world's dilemma is a reflection of man's heart. It is not God's will. The hungry should be fed, the tears should be wiped away, the lonely should be visited, the fatherless children should have a father, teenagers should have hope..."

It's a great pity that people judge Jesus Christ through the actions of His most misguided followers, or through churches that are ossified by empty traditions, or through commentaries by the uninformed or outright hostile, or through reading medieval translations. Meanwhile, the true story is available, for the price of a couple of bucks or less, from the bookshelves of the local Christian-charity op shop, and the hour or so that it takes to read a modern mainstream translation of a gospel. Never accept second-hand information when first-hand is available, IMO!

Yes, maybe I'm off-topic, so I'll get back to the thread point.

When non-Christians ask for prayers in times of distress, there is a school of thought that says that anxiety has turned their brains to mush, and that they are acting irrationally. I'm somewhat sympathetic to that view, because I'm forever trying, in vain, to tune out emotionalism from my investment decisions. But in that case, I am trying to turn my natural responses upside down, because my fears are likely to be cross-wired to reality.

It doesn't follow that fear-driven responses outside the investment context, when people are confronted by death and pain, are necessarily irrational. I think, FWIW, that it's actually when times are good that we aren't seeing clearly, because, when we and our loved ones are healthy and the sun is shining, life seems like it's forever. Confronting our inevitable mortality takes a much lower priority than having a good time. I can't help but be sympathetic to that attitude, because I'm very prone to it myself. But reality is otherwise - everyone is terminal.

So, what is the truly weak behaviour? Is it to acknowledge the obvious helplessness of the human condition, and ask for, or offer, prayer? Or is the true weakness to forget the truths taught by fear, and return to rosy self-deceptions of invulnerability?

In my saner moments, I am aware that every moment of life, every breath, every heart-beat, every hour without a burden of pain or guilt, is a gift worthy of a grateful response. If I died this moment, I have been blessed far more than 99% of the people on this planet. Is that instinct toward gratitude misguided? In my case at least, I don't believe so. And others, who one would have thought had relatively little to be thankful for, often somehow find more reason than anyone to express gratitude. May none of us have to find out by personal experience how that gratitude comes to arise - and yet, it's a thing to wonder at, and be inspired by, I suggest.