I am Dr. Andy Johnson. This is the Reading Instruction Show kind of today.
The topic of today's podcast is called Don't Pray for Me, or Don't Pray for Me, Argentina.
I've been around for 64 years and in these 64 years I've had many rich opportunities to encounter people with widely varying views on things.
Quite often I encounter people who have different religious views.
And we all seem to be very impassioned about our views here.
And we all think that our views are the right views. Or why else would we have them?
Now my religious views and kind of the point of this podcast is that I'm not quite certain what label to put on me these days.
I may be unlabelable. I started out as a traditional Lutheran Christian once upon a time.
And then I was involved with charismatic Christianity for a time.
Then I became fascinated with world religions and discovered the sacred elements in all of these.
I discovered shamanism and saw that as the basis of all religions.
And I saw how this and the other mystic traditions were essential elements of early Christianity.
Christian Gnosticism and the Christian mysticism converge with Jungian psychology and quantum physics.
Tick Nhan, the Buddhist monk, showed how a Buddhist view of Christianity, a view focusing on dispositions or states of mind,
created a more powerful dynamic view of biblical scriptures and Christianity.
So what is my label?
Well, I embrace the traditional Christian images and symbols I grew up with.
But I use these along with scripture and other ideas to bring me to a higher place.
The Bible is real and accurate, but not on the historical plane.
It occurred, it is occurring and will occur on the cosmic inner realm.
Jung would call this universal consciousness, implicate order, the kingdom or kingdom of heaven, God within.
Now, I am not a Christian, but I am wherever Christianity takes me.
Christianity and the other world religions are vehicles to take me to a higher place.
Now, I've noticed that sometimes in the world of religions, and I'm talking about all religions here,
adherents become so enamored with the vehicle that they never get out of the garage.
In Christianity, there are those so focused on biblical literacy that they spend all their time polishing the car
without ever driving the car.
Christianity and other world religions are vehicles to take you to a higher place.
And that higher place is a place where you're better able to nurture the self, nurture others and nurture your environment.
Unfortunately, some use Christianity to take them to a lower place,
a place where they become destructive to the self, to others and their environment.
The result is judgment, hate, self-centeredness, selfishness, prejudice, religious bigotry, racism, tyranny and parochialism.
Now, when people realize you have a religious view that doesn't match their own, there are three things that often happen.
The first thing that happens is to point out how wrong you are and to convince you of your wrongness
so that you'll adapt a view that is more closely aligned with their own.
We've all done this myself included.
However, this gets in the way of listening and understanding and it robs both parties of the ability to incorporate other ideas and to evolve.
The second thing that often happens when people realize,
I have a view that doesn't match theirs is name calling, labeling, disparaging comments and the use of unflattering objectives.
Instead of addressing the idea, there's an attack or a diminution of the person.
Now, I've discovered that when the name callers run out of adjectives to call me and bad things to say about me, that they have nothing left to say.
And this second thing creates walls and further separates people.
Now, the third thing that sometimes happens when talking about religion is that the person says that they will pray for me.
When they find out that I have a different perspective and that they cannot convince me of my wrongness or they cannot damage me with their words, they say they will pray for me.
Now, I have three questions here.
Question number one, everyone benefits from having a good prayer sprinkled over their head now and again.
But why would you waste your prayer on me?
I certainly appreciate the thought, but I'm good.
I have a pretty good life.
I'm in good health. I have health insurance.
I'm happy most of the time.
I love my wife and she actually loves me. Imagine that.
But there are many more people who need your prayers much more than I do.
There's plenty of hungry, grieving, sick, lonely and abused people in the world.
It seems a silly waste of your prayers to pray for me.
And the second question I have is this.
Are you really going to pray for me?
Or are you just saying that?
And if you are going to pray for me, what will that prayer sound like?
Dear God, please help Andy believe the right thing.
Dear God, make Andy say things the way that I see them, sincerely yours.
Dear God, Andy is sick and misguided. He is a sinner. He needs your help.
Dear God, help Andy see the truth of your divine presence and so on and so on.
And my third question is this.
Isn't it just a bit presumptuous to tell God what to do?
Again, I really appreciate the sentiment, but use that energy to do what Jesus instructed.
Go out and help somebody.
Give to somebody.
Feed and clothe the poor.
Visit somebody.
Provide health care for all.
Faith without love is meaningless.
Prayer without doing anything does nothing.