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Ooo that sounds dirty, I just realized. Still, the topic fits, so I'm keeping the title.
As a few of you may know, I've been unemployed for about two years, with only the occasional seasonal position sprinkled about that time to keep me from sinking utterly into irrecoverable debt. I've been struggling to not give in to despair, and my attempts to find work have been less than successful. Generally anywhere I apply to I end up having my hopes raised when I am told I am a very likely prospect, then suspended for two weeks as I am told they still have to go through another hundred to two hundred applications, then dropped like a very large, heavy sack of potatoes when I am informed that other people got the job. I am living in a college town, and ergo I am a not-college educated 24 year old trying to find employment in retail against people with college degrees or who are in school. A few weeks ago the same thing happened with Staples. It's been three weeks since the interview; I haven't heard a thing, and whenever I call, I am just told "they're going through interviews." So I've resumed my regimen of applications.
Last time I applied to Staples, and before that Home Depot, and before that Pet World, and every time since, despite my professed atheism, I have accidentally [more more likely reflexively] found myself in the shower or in bed whispering "please god let me get this job, please god let me get this job."
Remember that I used to be a devout Methodist.
I recently applied to Family Video, seeing as they were hiring. A few days later, yesterday to be precise, I got a call from the manager asking if I was still interested in being employed by them, to which I eagerly replied that yes I was. He asked me a few questions, to which I answered, and afterward he seemed satisfied enough to schedule an interview today at 6pm. Even getting an interview is a huge victory but again it guarantees nothing. Truth be told I am tired of getting my hopes up, but if I DON'T get them up, I'll end up going into these interviews seemingly listless and unenthusiastic which will further kill my chances of getting a job.
So, I just woke up at 3am, it's now 5:20am, [my sleep schedule is a bit wonky] and I just got out of the shower. While in the shower, I started chanting something to myself.
"Please god let me get this job, please god let me get this job, please god let me..." And then I stopped. I realized what part of the problem is. FALSE hope. Something I've railed against religions for perpetrating since becoming an atheist...and to this day the hold of religion still clings its last pinky to me in the guise of false hope. Of begging something, someone, anything, anyone to give me a chance to be working so I can get my life back on track. I only just realized this.
So I stopped. "No. Please, LG, nail this interview. Please, LG, nail this interview," I started chanting.
I feel a lot more confident about this interview suddenly.
Ooo that sounds dirty, I just realized. Still, the topic fits, so I'm keeping the title.
As a few of you may know, I've been unemployed for about two years, with only the occasional seasonal position sprinkled about that time to keep me from sinking utterly into irrecoverable debt. I've been struggling to not give in to despair, and my attempts to find work have been less than successful. Generally anywhere I apply to I end up having my hopes raised when I am told I am a very likely prospect, then suspended for two weeks as I am told they still have to go through another hundred to two hundred applications, then dropped like a very large, heavy sack of potatoes when I am informed that other people got the job. I am living in a college town, and ergo I am a not-college educated 24 year old trying to find employment in retail against people with college degrees or who are in school. A few weeks ago the same thing happened with Staples. It's been three weeks since the interview; I haven't heard a thing, and whenever I call, I am just told "they're going through interviews." So I've resumed my regimen of applications.
Last time I applied to Staples, and before that Home Depot, and before that Pet World, and every time since, despite my professed atheism, I have accidentally [more more likely reflexively] found myself in the shower or in bed whispering "please god let me get this job, please god let me get this job."
Remember that I used to be a devout Methodist.
I recently applied to Family Video, seeing as they were hiring. A few days later, yesterday to be precise, I got a call from the manager asking if I was still interested in being employed by them, to which I eagerly replied that yes I was. He asked me a few questions, to which I answered, and afterward he seemed satisfied enough to schedule an interview today at 6pm. Even getting an interview is a huge victory but again it guarantees nothing. Truth be told I am tired of getting my hopes up, but if I DON'T get them up, I'll end up going into these interviews seemingly listless and unenthusiastic which will further kill my chances of getting a job.
So, I just woke up at 3am, it's now 5:20am, [my sleep schedule is a bit wonky] and I just got out of the shower. While in the shower, I started chanting something to myself.
"Please god let me get this job, please god let me get this job, please god let me..." And then I stopped. I realized what part of the problem is. FALSE hope. Something I've railed against religions for perpetrating since becoming an atheist...and to this day the hold of religion still clings its last pinky to me in the guise of false hope. Of begging something, someone, anything, anyone to give me a chance to be working so I can get my life back on track. I only just realized this.
So I stopped. "No. Please, LG, nail this interview. Please, LG, nail this interview," I started chanting.
I feel a lot more confident about this interview suddenly.
Stubborn man, I prayed for you, will not revel what the prayer was though.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.
Oh, prayer. The funny little personal whispers people send out into the unknown, hoping for some magical interference. Although, chanting with a replacement of your name would probably bring on a sense of motivation, I'd say go with that.
“Whoever will be free must make himself free. Freedom is no fairy gift to fall into a man's lap. What is freedom? To have the will to be responsible for one's self.” - Max Stirner.
(April 24, 2012 at 2:14 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Of course not...how could you change the ending if you did, you two-bit phony.
You are welcome to your opinion, that doesn't make it true, in your case it is false. No matter how it turns out I would not share it with anyone, it was meant for one person and for a reason that is quite different than you could imagine, Min the more you post the more I find I do not like you. I'm extremely glad I was not born into your family, it must be a real pain to have to put up with an attitude like yours.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.
(April 24, 2012 at 2:14 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Of course not...how could you change the ending if you did, you two-bit phony.
You are welcome to your opinion, that doesn't make it true, in your case it is false. No matter how it turns out I would not share it with anyone, it was meant for one person and for a reason that is quite different than you could imagine, Min the more you post the more I find I do not like you. I'm extremely glad I was not born into your family, it must be a real pain to have to put up with an attitude like yours.
The prayer probably went "dear god, please show this poor soul back to the light lest he burn in hell" or something. You probably should've saved your time. I mean you should probably save your prayers one way or another anyway; god supposedly has an ultimate plan that is unshifting, unyielding, and therefore your prayers are ineffective by your own beliefs.
In any case I agree with Min. *shrugs* If you had no intention of sharing what said prayer was, why bother even saying anything regarding you praying at all unless you're trying to get a rise out of me?
April 24, 2012 at 5:08 pm (This post was last modified: April 24, 2012 at 5:16 pm by Forsaken.)
If prayer helps psychologically, I don't see any harm in praying. Off course there is no super being sitting there listening to your prayers, but if using the word god gives comfort to someone mentally, its better to use it rather than taking the stress to ignore it. Expressions, such as; "Oh my god", "god bless", etc have become cliché of the English language, I don't see any reason why non-believers shouldn't use it as part of their conversation.
Creed, as if anything GC might say about his faith or actions from faith would have anything to do with you, rise or not. He would just like to remind us all of how pious and faithful he is.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
(April 24, 2012 at 4:55 pm)Creed of Heresy Wrote: In any case I agree with Min. *shrugs* If you had no intention of sharing what said prayer was, why bother even saying anything regarding you praying at all unless you're trying to get a rise out of me?
In my experience, the purpose of prayer is to give the one doing the praying the opportunity to tell you that they're praying; although there is often an added layer of implied superiority in that they want you to know there is something broken in you that they want to fix out of the goodness of their heart.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
