Tag Archives: Monty Python

MY DISTURBING THOUGHTS ABOUT PRAYER

April 24, 2026 – 1:37 pm

MY DISTURBING THOUGHTS ABOUT PRAYER

  1. FAITH In Prayer

Even as my faith in God remains as strong as it has ever been, I am realizing that my faith in prayer to God is another matter.

I know that many prayers do not seem to be answered (or at least the answer is all too often “NO”.)  When this happens, we fall back upon the secure truth that God knows our needs (and the needs of others) much better than we do. 

And I believe that God is the God of Love, that He wills what is best for us.  I have faith in God’s love, even where that seems least likely.  God knows His business better than I do.   

And He knows our needs and wants before we bring them to Him in prayer.

So why do I pray?

You might as well ask why I breathe. If I stop breathing, I die. (That line is a slightly adapted borrowing from Victor Lazlo in the movie Casablanca.)  Prayer is a natural human response to any problem or need that we feel powerless to satisfy. 

Everybody prays.  After all, what does it mean when we say “I hope…that this medicine works for me.” Or “I wish that…..  The subjunctive mood is often used to express such prayers without an address: “May you live long and prosper,” or “May this house be safe from tigers” (google author Alexander King.)

But this type of prayer is not addressed to anyone; it is simply tossed out into the universe like a note “To Whom It May Concern…”, stuck in a bottle and dropped into the sea.

With faith in a loving God, we know who to address and even how to pray properly.  That is a large part of what I get from the Church.

But I am also aware of conflicting guidance about the prayer process.  On one hand, Jesus tells us that our prayers, even extreme ones like uprooting trees or mountains, will be answered IF our faith is strong enough. On the other hand, when He prays in Gethsemane, He asks for release from His destiny on the cross. But in His next breath He qualifies it, with “but nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”  And in His model of prayer, He tells us to pray “Thy will be done” just before “Give us this day our daily bread.” Beg and qualify.  Ask and prepare to not receive.

My conclusion(such as it is)?  Never resist the urge to pray, but always be prepared to accept an answer other than an obvious “Yes”. 

2. PRAYERS OF PRAISE

I have been taught that there are three types of prayer: thanking God; asking for God’s intercession; and praising God.  

I feel deeply and always and everywhere the need to thank God for the many blessings He has given me. 

And I certainly have a long list of things I ask Him to intercede for, leading with the healing of so many loved ones. Those suffering from physical or mental illness or persecution or other ills inflicted by other people.

But I have long felt ambivalent about the “praise” component.  Praising the God who created and rules the universe, well that has always struck me as odd: like telling Jascha Heifitz or Itzhak Perlman “You are a very good violinist.”   I may have been influenced by the Monty Python sketch in “The Meaning of Life” in which a priest makes a groveling, obsequious prayer beginning with “Oh Lord, Oooh, you are so big!  All of us down here are really impressed with you…”

So why do we make a big deal about praising God?  To please Him? Possibly.   Or to demonstrate our humility?  That sounds closer.  Then I realized: it is to build and maintain the foundation of true humility in us.   

The Psalms make this clear.  Amidst all these hymns of praise, we read:

“Know ye that the Lord He is God.  It is He that hath made us and not we ourselves.  We are His people and the sheep of his pasture.” (100:3)

“Be still, and know that I am God.”(46:10)

That is why we praise Him.  To remind ourselves that He is God and we are not.

(And that is why I gave up looking to Monty Python for religious instruction. Though they were early leaders about the insanity of “transgenderism”.)

By davidsmith4002 | Posted in God, prayer | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Squirrely Squirrels?

January 4, 2020 – 8:37 am

“And now, for something completely different…”

That opening line from the old Monty Python show applies here.  My friend Mr. Moleman has posted a story by a new author, “Mr. X” (probably Moleman himself).  It is a charming tale about young love, revolutionary politics, teenage rebellion, and squirrels.  Yes, squirrels.

I read it and found it both delightful and thought-provoking; but mostly just delightful.  It is suitable for all ages. I think you will enjoy it too.

As I write this sitting in my study, I am looking out at two squirrels in my yard.  They are fascinating creatures, indeed; if they ever evolve the opposable thumb (as the story says they are trying to do), we are all doomed.

Anyway, HERE is the link to the complete story.  Or go to mistermoleman.com and check out all his stuff..

By davidsmith4002 | Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Why “Mother’s” Day? Why not Parent #1 Day?

May 3, 2014 – 12:28 pm

[As usual, my friend Hans Moleman (at mistermoleman.com) has made a good and timely point: in an age when the benefits of motherhood have been scientifically and legally debunked, refuted, and declared non-existent, why do we still celebrate “Mother’s” Day?]

It is time to put an end to this outrage.  “Mother’s” Day is an abhorrent, anachronistic vestige of heterosexist oppression.  In barely concealed homophobic code, it implies that a child needs and/or benefits from having a mother, and that motherhood is something other than an outdated social construct.

Sure, motherhood may have been revered in the Dark Ages.  But as Enlightenment has spread across the land in recent years, social scientists and learned judges have patiently explained to us that “mothers” are now quite redundant.

Wise judges such as Vaughn Walker, ruling that the voters of California have no right to decide so important a question, wrote:

“The gender of a child’s parent is not a factor in a child’s adjustment… The research supporting this conclusion is accepted beyond serious debate in the field of developmental psychology…Children do not need to be raised by a male parent and a female parent to be well-adjusted, and having both a male and a female parent does not increase the likelihood that a child will be well-adjusted.”

See?  It is “accepted beyond serious debate”.  As Al Gore likes to say, the debate is over, we know all we need to know.

The judge did admit that things were different in the Dark Ages: “When California became a state in 1850, marriage was understood to require a husband and a wife.”  But, as they say in California, that was then and this is now.  (On retiring soon after ruling against Prop 8, Judge Walker said ““I have done my part.”  Indeed he has.)

The Iowa Supreme Court was equally patient in dismissing the folly of mother-fixation.

“The research appears to strongly support the conclusion that same-sex couples foster the same wholesome environment as opposite-sex couples and suggests that the traditional notion that children need a mother and father to be raised into healthy, well-adjusted adults is based more on stereotype than anything else.”

There you have it.  This whole motherhood thing is just a stereotype.

And think of the emotional pain inflicted.  Every “M-word” Day is a gross offense to the self-esteem of gay male couples who are thinking about raising children.

It reminds one of a heart-breaking episode from Monty Python’s Life of Brian.  Stan, a young rebel with gender issues, announces that he wants to have a baby:

Stan (also known as Loretta): It’s every man’s right to have babies if he wants them.

Reg:  But you can’t have babies.

Stan:  Don’t you oppress me.

Reg: Where’s the fetus going to gestate? You going to keep it in a box?

Well, Reg, modern science has finally come up with effective gestation boxes, so Stan’s dream (actually Loretta’s dream) can now come true. And the courts have said that gay adoption is OK, because all that a child needs is “parents”.

So we can leave this motherhood fetish back in ancient Judea where it belongs.

The obvious thing to do is to rename the holiday.  Federal and state governments are quickly replacing the anachronistic “Mother” and “Father” lines on government forms and birth certificates with the more sensitive “Parent #1” and “Parent #2”.

The calendar can and should do the same thing.  May 11 is Parent #1 Day, with Parent #2 to be celebrated later.  (Don’t get me started on the whole “Fatherhood” outrage.  That can wait until P2 Day.)

Boycott Hallmark until they correct this archaic macro-aggression against the differently gendered parent!

Reminder: Did you call your Parent #1 today?

By davidsmith4002 | Posted in modern culture | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)