Tuesday, February 19, 2008

On Hearing

"The immediate person thinks and imagines that when he prays, the important thing, the thing he must concentrate upon, is that God should hear what he is praying for. And yet in the true, eternal sense it is just the reverse: the true relation in prayer is not when God hears what is prayed for, but when the person praying continuesto pray until he is the one who hears, who hears what God wills. The immediate person, therefore, uses many words and, therefore makes demands in his prayer; the true man of prayer only attends."
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
Danish theologian

2 comments:

  1. On Hearing.

    The movie Bruce Almighty, Jim Carey's character gets to be God. And in one scene blindly answers 'Yes' to all prayers. The world ended up a mess. This silly little scene reminds me that what I may think is best for me, may not always be what is best.

    Prayers answered are nice, but I have learned that prayers not acted upon, have worked out pretty well too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Possibly, by the seeming inaction on a prayer God is really acting?

    ReplyDelete

emergent god


e·mer·gent (ĭ-mûr'jənt) adj. Coming into view, existence, or notice

god (gŏd) n. A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions.


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