MaxedOutMama
Monday, September 01, 2008
Gustav Cat Two And Expected To Remain So
When I looked at the track and news on that sucker Friday, my heart fell.
Largely what I've been doing this weekend is praying for divine intervention to knock that down from the cat 4 stage to something less intimidating along the lines of 1 or 2. I'm goggle-eyed right now because I got up in the middle of the night to pray again. Yes, yes, it's a fundy sort of thing to do, but it seemed like pretty much the only thing to do. And sometimes, prayer's all we've got. However, in this case it's not the only thing we've got. Lindgren of Volokh posted a list of the charities which were rated as having done particularly well on Katrina, so you might want to donate to one of these. There is going to be some Gulf flooding.
If you've never tried praying before, or are not sure it works:
A) You don't need to believe. A sincere prayer for the benefit of someone else is heard regardless of belief.
B) Therefore a simple "Please God knock that monster down to a lower, less damaging level, and protect those in its path from danger" will work just fine.
C) If you are Christian, add "I ask this in Jesus' name." If you are Catholic, throw in a Hail Mary. The promise is that every real prayer in Jesus' name will work, as long as it is an allowable intention. Among the standards for allowable intentions are that we are not asking for harm to others and that these are requests that we cannot accomplish ourselves, and requests that do not violate the design of the world (asking for immortality, for instance, is a no-no).
D) Regarding the sincerity of the intention, doing whatever you can do in order to accomplish whatever you are praying for is important. That Which Is doesn't regard prayers combined with contradictory actions as constituting a sincere intention, and according to That Which Is, we humans have a lot of trouble even forming sincere intentions. I got a long lecture recently on that very topic from That Which Is. A lot of it was about the human tendency to use prayer as an escape from responsibility. Therefore, giving a donation to a relief organization helps to ensure that you truly are sincere in your request. I just did so.
E) I realize also that a lot of people are very broke just now, so if you really don't have the money don't worry about that. If you don't have it, ask That Which Is to help you gain the resources to help other people that are in trouble, and state a specified sum of money that you will then give for help to others once you get it.
There will be flooding, because That Which Is got testy on that subject last night, insisting that we still have not taken the danger of having so many people living under sea level seriously, and stating further that intervention now to prevent flooding would cause greater harm in the future. So pray for the protection of those in its path.
Largely what I've been doing this weekend is praying for divine intervention to knock that down from the cat 4 stage to something less intimidating along the lines of 1 or 2. I'm goggle-eyed right now because I got up in the middle of the night to pray again. Yes, yes, it's a fundy sort of thing to do, but it seemed like pretty much the only thing to do. And sometimes, prayer's all we've got. However, in this case it's not the only thing we've got. Lindgren of Volokh posted a list of the charities which were rated as having done particularly well on Katrina, so you might want to donate to one of these. There is going to be some Gulf flooding.
If you've never tried praying before, or are not sure it works:
A) You don't need to believe. A sincere prayer for the benefit of someone else is heard regardless of belief.
B) Therefore a simple "Please God knock that monster down to a lower, less damaging level, and protect those in its path from danger" will work just fine.
C) If you are Christian, add "I ask this in Jesus' name." If you are Catholic, throw in a Hail Mary. The promise is that every real prayer in Jesus' name will work, as long as it is an allowable intention. Among the standards for allowable intentions are that we are not asking for harm to others and that these are requests that we cannot accomplish ourselves, and requests that do not violate the design of the world (asking for immortality, for instance, is a no-no).
D) Regarding the sincerity of the intention, doing whatever you can do in order to accomplish whatever you are praying for is important. That Which Is doesn't regard prayers combined with contradictory actions as constituting a sincere intention, and according to That Which Is, we humans have a lot of trouble even forming sincere intentions. I got a long lecture recently on that very topic from That Which Is. A lot of it was about the human tendency to use prayer as an escape from responsibility. Therefore, giving a donation to a relief organization helps to ensure that you truly are sincere in your request. I just did so.
E) I realize also that a lot of people are very broke just now, so if you really don't have the money don't worry about that. If you don't have it, ask That Which Is to help you gain the resources to help other people that are in trouble, and state a specified sum of money that you will then give for help to others once you get it.
There will be flooding, because That Which Is got testy on that subject last night, insisting that we still have not taken the danger of having so many people living under sea level seriously, and stating further that intervention now to prevent flooding would cause greater harm in the future. So pray for the protection of those in its path.
