This story from Ambrose Worrall’s The Gift of Healing[*] illustrates that not all prayer, however well-intentioned, will necessarily bring about the desired results. Some prayer may even interfere with obtaining the desired results.
Ambrose Worrall had been asked to intercede for a six-year old girl named Kay, who had developed encephalitis following measles. At the time he began, she was completely paralysed.
Ambrose and Olga Worrall took the doctrine of “Don’t come uninvited” to extreme lengths — or so I thought. A key story involves their relations with one another.
From The Gift of Healing, pages 118-120:[*]
Some time before our marriage Olga had injured her left hand in a fall on an icy sidewalk. Following this mishap a small lump appeared in the injured area. It did not disappear, but grew larger until it was as big as a good-sized walnut. Continue reading * Reconsidering “Don’t come uninvited.”
At least, not for people like me.[*]
 Ashley Olsen |
 Grace Park |
 Ciara |
Decisions, decisions.
Continue reading * Choosing what to want isn’t a no-brainer, either.
Laying hands on the sick is mentioned many times in the New Testament, and was a common practice in the early church.
Arnie (not his real name) has been the sole student of my course on effective prayer.
Sunday after church he told me he’d found a couple online resources about effective prayer, that he hoped we could review together. Each of them begins with the necessity of “belief.”
When he said this, I became nervous. There are many such sources online, but I’m not comfortable with them. On the one hand, trying to make myself “believe” that the outcome I pray for is inevitable, feels too much like wading into the world of delusion. On the other hand, although there are many New Testament references to “belief” in connection with prayer, I’m convinced that either (a) those expressions don’t come from the historical Jesus himself, or else (b) Jesus used that term to mean something very different from what we normally take it to mean today.
None of those whom I regard as experts in the field ever refer to belief this way. Never. Not once. Ever.
By Monday afternoon, I would feel my reservations had been powerfully confirmed.
Related: From my diary: Learning to pray
Related: I will not be disappointed
Related: When prayer backfires
Continue reading * I don’t believe in belief. Here’s why.
Below appears the syllabus for the course on prayer that I’m teaching at my church. Today we completed Week 2.
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DESCRIPTION
Many people long to love and serve God — whatever that means — in ways more meaningful than mere ritual practices. This course will teach ways to focus one’s altruism so as to attain greater harmony within oneself and in one’s relationships. Anticipated outcomes:
– improved self-acceptance
– improved functionality
– improved employability
– improved ability to set goals
– improved ability to work toward goals
– enhanced sense of personal efficacy
– intrapersonal coherence (integrity, “faith”)
– enhanced affect management
– greater harmony in relationships
– It just plain feels good.
The course will treat all religions as equally valid. Students are likely to hear prayers to “Allah,” “Jesus,” “Vishnu,” etc. There will be no effort to promote any one belief system over any other. It is suggested that students take the meditation course, “Mindfulness for Healing,” first.
BIO
William Tell, “The Homeless Blogger,” lives in Baltimore.
COURSE OUTLINE
Week 1
– Topic: Tolerance and intolerance: Students will discuss their willingness to engage in interfaith prayer.
– Text: “Prayer Primer,” by William Tell
How do people become “lights” to this world?
– Text: “Your Heart’s Desire,,” by Emmett Fox
What’s at stake in choosing one’s affects (feelings, emotions) intentionally?
– Homework: Watch for moments when you can choose your feelings.
Week 2
– Text: “The Way of Peace,” by William Tell
Introduction to meditation, the principal tool for learning to choose one’s affects.
– Text: “Essay on Prayer,” by Ambrose Worrall
“Every thought is a prayer.” What does this mean?
– Homework: Establish a regular daily time for study and prayer.
Week 3
– Text: “Meditation and Contemplation,” by Ambrose Worrall
What are meditation and contemplation? How are they different?
– Text: “Silentium Altum (Deep Silence),” by Ambrose Worrall
What is the use of “deep silence” (contemplation)? What can one expect from that state?
– Discussion: Pros and cons of organized religion
– Homework: Seek to love people you don’t like.
Week 4
– Text: “Un[b]locking the Spirit,” by William Tell
Why should one pray for oneself first, before praying for others?
– Text: “When prayer backfires,” by William Tell
What are some common mistakes and misconceptions about prayer?
– Homework: Practice bathing people in light.
Week 5
– Text: “From my diary: Learning to pray,” by William Tell
What is “doubt?” How can one overcome it?
– Homework: Seek to become “heart and soul” as to your heart’s desire.
Week 6
– First session: Topics: Housekeeping; Trash day; Prayer in spirit
Exercises for “cleaning up” one’s emotional context, and praying for another person in words.
– Second session: Topics: Prayer for enemies; Dealing with haters; Following guidance
Exercises in prayer for enemies, prayer about saboteurs, and obtaining guidance in intercession.
– Homework: Practice following guidance in prayer.
Week 7
– Text: “Philosophy and Methodology of Spiritual Healing,” by Ambrose Worrall
An in-depth examination of the methods and processes of practical prayer, from the perspective of the 20th century’s foremost American expert in the field
Homework: TBD
Week 8
– Topic: Prayer with the laying on of hands
Students who are interested in, and willing to participate in, the laying on of hands, will learn and practice it.
– Homework: Let your light shine!
Reblogged 2021-09-09.
Last Wednesday I copied here a post from Messiah Truth. Here I copy what was the very next post on that same thread, from 2006-12-02, reporting some scientific research strongly suggestive of the existence of an interpersonal or transpersonal, or possibly “spiritual” or affective, “field.”
… reported in latest issue of Edgar Cayce magazine:
(1) Information was transmitted between two atoms at distant locations at speeds greater than that of light; this is also known as “teleportation.” This turns out actually to be “old news”; one’s entree to the articles may best be as follows:
“Quantum physics: Push-button teleportation,” by
H. J. Kimble, and S. J. van Enk. Nature 429, 712 – 713 (17 Jun 2004).
(2) Pairs of romantically involved persons were separated and monitored, once via EEG and once via a different instrument measuring electrical impulses to the gut. When one partner contemplated a photograph of the other, within moments the latter person’s monitors indicated a response. My source provided the following bibliographic info:
Sources: Radin, D. I. Event-related EEG correlations between isolated human subjects. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004, Vol. 10, pp. 315-324. For a copy of this paper, see http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/107555304323062301
Radin, D. I., & Schlitz, M. J. Gut feelings, intuition, and emotions: An exploratory study. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005, Vol. 11 (1), pp. 85-91. To purchase a copy of this study, see http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/acm.2005.11.85
[Postscript, 2015-02-16: This guy Dean Radin has an interesting bio: http://www.deanradin.com/NewWeb/bio.html%5D
Reblogged 2021-04-22.
Sooner or later, it had to happen.
Sunday, about 14:00, I had just bought my second coffee at McDonald’s. I put it on my table and, as they require me to do, took all my things with me to go out and smoke.
Related: Does McDonald’s discriminate against the homeless?
Outside, I took one more shot at trying to understand how evil — negativity, conflict — happens.
There are those who say that evil is necessary because without it, humans would never be able to appreciate joy. I have never found this believable.
Continue reading * The inevitability of evil
The Homeless Blogger 