Does God Listen? I was thinking the other day about prayer and miracles, while watching the story on the news about the miners who were rescued in Pennsylvania. After being rescued, some people claimed it was a miracle. I don't believe in miracles, but I do believe in interesting coincidences. When a "miracle" happens, I believe what is really happening is that some combination of events occurred that fulfilled a need for those who witness the "miracle" and their own minds fill in the blanks with magical thinking as a way of explaining something they don't understand. If there is a god who performs miracles, why is he so picky? Why are some miracles very strange, such as images of the virgin Mary appearing on a tortilla? And why does he pass up really great opportunities to perform miracles, like maybe rescuing all those who perished in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 - that would have been a great way to convert souls! Some people believe that god rescued the trapped miners, probably because so many people prayed for their safe rescue, and they came out alive, so it proves god answers prayers and performs miracles, right?

But why does god answer some prayers and not others? Or does he really answer them at all? If you were to ask several people to keep track of what they pray for and which prayers were answered and which were not, you would likely find that god is seemingly random in his choices of which prayers to answer - sometimes he answers prayers to win lotteries but denies requests to save a child from cancer. Are lotteries more important than the lives of children? Or is it just our minds trying to justify and explanation for events that occur? When it comes out in our favor, it's because god answered our prayers! If it comes out the other way, then it is god's will, even if his will makes him look really, really cruel and mean.

There has been speculation lately that prayer may actually be effective in some cases, such as in healing people who are ill or have had surgery. Many religious people love this idea, because it supports their belief in prayer and god. But what really happens when people pray? Does god listen? Or is something else really happening? My own personal opinion is that god does not listen. I believe that prayer is a way of focusing on something outside yourself, whether it is god, or someone who "needs help" or a candle or whatever. By focusing outside yourself, your perspective changes, and you are able to see things in a new light, thereby coming up with possible solutions to problems you might not have thought of before. It also gets you out of your selfish "poor me" attitude which gets rid of bad emotions like anger, which helps to center you and allow your body to heal itself. I also believe there is an added effect when more than one person prays for the same thing, but it's not because god sees it and says "Oh, hmmm ... so many little beggars, I guess I should make them happy so they leave me alone." It's because when people pray then tend to be more aware of being centered and when you are centered you are in harmony with the universe. Yeah, I know it sounds corny. But when we fight against the way thing are and try to make them the way we want them to be, conflict occurs. But when you "go with the flow, and enjoy the show", things tend to fall into place. And the more people that are praying, or centering themselves with nature and the universe, the more "miracles" happen, or so it seems, anyway. ;)