Your thoughts on prayer

Thanks everyone, for the GREAT comments on this topic.  John, I must say, you certainly have an open mind and I respect your beliefs and appreciate your understanding of at least a few of the reasons why people of faith believe.  I love your new avatar, by the way.  You were a little cutie!  You too, Peter, look very cuddly.  LOL!

Mick, I can understand why you question, "Why religion?"  I think my thoughts on the matter go back to my earliest posts in here about how faith, and prayer and religion are not the same things.  On the thread about Ron's radio interview about C.S. Lewis, I mentioned that we hear in America how secular Europe has become over the last few decades, and I think it has a lot to do with how Europe has suffered from the divisive effects of religion over CENTURIES.  It can be a very destructive force.  I remember my Dad saying, back in the 60's when all the killing was happening in N. Ireland, "Too much religion and not enough God."  But we know that religion and God had nothing to do with it.  You can chalk it up to vicious power struggles, no more, no less than street gangs, or rival tribes or political factions or any other us vs. them scenario.  And even all the hundreds of years of religious conflict in England, as well as what's going on in the Middle East today among Muslims - they were and are political conflicts, under the mask of religion.  But they have nothing to do with God.

What you said, John, about me having a dual belief, I'm thinking that maybe the energy, the life-force, if you will, that leaves the body upon death, couldn't that just be another way of describing a soul or spirit?  Who knows?  I wonder just how much of what we understand about God and our spiritual lives or just our physical, biological existence has been misunderstood because of semantics.  Trying to explain the unexplainable.

Krissy, I think that was a great thing to say.  Thank you!! And thank you for being brave enough to say it.

I don't believe there is such a thing as 'life-force', Ruth. I don't believe that anything non-physical leaves the body upon death.
You're talking about the ancient idea of Vitalism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitalism

We have no evidence that supports Vitalism. Like Madonna, we seem to be material boys and girls, living in a material world.