Religious women: Do you feel comforted when other people say they’ll pray for you?

4 comments

1. I feel comforted because I know that’s a kind thing to do, and that if they are religious, I know that means a lot to the too. The prayer itself doesn’t comfort me a lot, but the intention and act does.

2. Not really religious, but yes

3. Nope

4. I’m religious in the sense of believing there is a large possibility that consciousness is something separate from the physical brain, and that such a phenomenon may persist after the brain dies.

   Beyond that, I don’t believe in a strict set of mythologies. Petitionary prayer, specifically, is founded on a logical fallacy.

   But comfort is often separate from cold logic, and my family is mostly catholic. It’s comforting to hear them say, “I believe in something greater than all of us, and I care about you so much that I hate to see you suffer. I will keep thinking of you long after you’ve left my sight, and I will make a point to wish for the end of your struggles.”

   When it’s a stranger who says it sincerely, the comfort is different. They’re not people who will help my get through it themselves, but it’s always nice to hear kindness.