Old wooden mask, most likely from Thailand

bukiminotani:

At last the behemoth spoke:

“All the birds in the sky and all the fish in the sea can never measure up to me.  But you, small man, will never know what you see.”

Impressive god or demon statue, most likely situated in a Japanese temple. The right hand gesture is quite a mystery…

I hope down the road, I can get some answers about praying. Suppose the following - if God already knows everything, and particularly “your needs”, why should one still pray and ask?

Recently I heard from someone that one should not pray for others. That to me is a bit of a shocker. Praying for someone else, is a good thing and I can’t imagine that praying should only be about myself.

There is also the issue about the “Devil.” Is it a good thing to pray FOR him, not TO him. I mean, if I can pray for someone to get well soon (from illness), does it make sense to pray to God about forgiving or giving the “horn guy” a chance to repent?

On the other hand, if the Devil was meant to just be, to exist and act for a specific purpose, then probably praying to have him changed or anything like that may not do any good.

Anyways, I’m not convinced that I should stop praying for others…

I keep forgetting. So many things to do, and I get stressed out. I keep forgetting to ask, “What is Thy Will?” or “Thy Will be Done.”

So many times now, I thought my decisions or actions would get the best results. I don’t think that way anymore. In looking back, I see that my talents or abilities did not create anything productive. It feels more like a “gift” from above - a little miracle or a helping hand - that made the difference and changed everything.

Many Thanks…

I hope God is real. I keep hoping. My daily thoughts always seem to wonder about this. Am I just deceiving myself? I do see little miracles every day and they are in little ways, very personal and special to me. AND YET, sometimes I still wonder if God is around.

From another angle, it is very possible that just the act of “asking questions,” keeps me in touch with God. Some play music. Some write poetry. Some people do creative things, trying to get in touch with beauty and truth. Perhaps now my questions are the only way that I can engage with God. Do I need a reply? It would be nice, but not necessary.

I just don’t want to forget all the good things that happened. They are small things and easily forgotten or taken for granted:

• a kind act from a stranger

• a chance encounter that made the day

• a good buy (arts & antiques) that’s hard to come by - actually, those really don’t come often

• finding something inspiring.. a tune that stays and reverberate in the heart

• seems impossible to do at first, but finding out later that it can be done

• rescued by a helping hand (or angel) at the last minute