So my good friend Al is a Monk. He wasn't always a Monk. He was a second class in the Navy. But life took twists and turns and he ended up in Florida as a Monk. His schedule includes a little work and all pray.
He prays for hours. Six of them. In a row. In a room. Alone. Then he works. Then eats a bit. Then prays some more. Praying for our world. Praying for peace. Praying for a million dollars. I don't know. Just praying.
He writes me pages of letters. six of them. In a row. All typed. All the time. I read and reread and ask questions and wait for my slice of heaven to appear in the mail box. He sends prayer ropes and Bible versus and short stories. He writes from his heart and when he says he's going to pray for me, I believe it. The question is, do I believe it will help?
Lately I haven't written to him much. I found myself reading his advice, but not applying it. And isn't that how it always is. You want to do well and believe in something higher than yourself, but in order to do so, you must actively try to stop 'sinning.' You don’t even have to actually stop. Just truly want to stop. And no one wants to do that. Everyone wants to continue to drink and have sex before marriage. Everyone wants to judge and not be held accountable. Everyone wants to steal scrunchies from Walmart. It’s just something about those florescent lights that make you want to steal. It’s really not your fault.
I would love to say something super right here, but I'll have to settle for superficial. The only reason people believe anything in this world is because of consequence.
And If you don’t believe, then what do people say to you when you sneeze? Hey sorry about your runny nose; and by the way, when you die, nothing happens. But if you choose to believe, then what? You get to reside in a magical Heaven?
In the end, if you believe in God and Heaven, then there is the fear of Hell out there, but I’ve got news for you. Hell is the place you reside in here on earth, when you choose to abuse that fabulously famous 'free will.' Prison is hell. Life with a person you don't love is hell. Life in debt is hell. Life in guilt is hell. Life in doubt is hell. Life in itself .... can be hell.
I’m going to do my best to stop all this sinning. I wonder if sex with the intent to marry counts? I’ll write Al and get back to you on that.
He prays for hours. Six of them. In a row. In a room. Alone. Then he works. Then eats a bit. Then prays some more. Praying for our world. Praying for peace. Praying for a million dollars. I don't know. Just praying.
He writes me pages of letters. six of them. In a row. All typed. All the time. I read and reread and ask questions and wait for my slice of heaven to appear in the mail box. He sends prayer ropes and Bible versus and short stories. He writes from his heart and when he says he's going to pray for me, I believe it. The question is, do I believe it will help?
Lately I haven't written to him much. I found myself reading his advice, but not applying it. And isn't that how it always is. You want to do well and believe in something higher than yourself, but in order to do so, you must actively try to stop 'sinning.' You don’t even have to actually stop. Just truly want to stop. And no one wants to do that. Everyone wants to continue to drink and have sex before marriage. Everyone wants to judge and not be held accountable. Everyone wants to steal scrunchies from Walmart. It’s just something about those florescent lights that make you want to steal. It’s really not your fault.
I would love to say something super right here, but I'll have to settle for superficial. The only reason people believe anything in this world is because of consequence.
And If you don’t believe, then what do people say to you when you sneeze? Hey sorry about your runny nose; and by the way, when you die, nothing happens. But if you choose to believe, then what? You get to reside in a magical Heaven?
In the end, if you believe in God and Heaven, then there is the fear of Hell out there, but I’ve got news for you. Hell is the place you reside in here on earth, when you choose to abuse that fabulously famous 'free will.' Prison is hell. Life with a person you don't love is hell. Life in debt is hell. Life in guilt is hell. Life in doubt is hell. Life in itself .... can be hell.
I’m going to do my best to stop all this sinning. I wonder if sex with the intent to marry counts? I’ll write Al and get back to you on that.
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