3:37pm UK, Tuesday January 06, 2009
If you've been left on a wing and prayer after losing your job then help is at hand.
The Church of England has issued two prayers for those facing up to redundancy.
The new Prayer On Being Made Redundant and Prayer For Those Remaining In The Workplace are aimed at bringing a few crumbs of comfort to those out of work - and to those left behind who have lost their work colleagues.
The Prayer On Being Made Redundant helps to put into words the anxieties of those who are losing or who have already lost their job.
It includes the verse: "Hear me as I cry out in confusion, help me to think clearly, and calm my soul."
The Prayer For Those Remaining In The Workplace focuses on the guilt and increased workload associated with redundancy and asks of God: "In the midst of this uncertainty, help me to keep going: to work to the best of my ability, taking each day at a time."
The Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, Rt Rev John Packer, who is chairman of the Church of England's stewardship committee, said the prayers emphasise how the Church is there for people.
He said: "This is a pastoral initiative. We need to be on the look-out to support those facing redundancy.
"Neighbourliness is so important in crisis situations, whether it's offering people new prayers to God, or by simply being there with a listening ear."
The prayers are the latest addition to the Church of England website's Matter of Life and Debt section which includes advice, prayers and intercessions for people worried about debt.
And my comment is really the comment of a great mind:
George Carlin (RIP) wrote:I've often thought people treat God rather rudely, don't you? Asking trillions and trillions of prayers every day. Asking and pleading and begging for favors. Do this, gimme that, I need a new car, I want a better job. And most of this praying takes place on Sunday His day off. It's not nice. And it's no way to treat a friend.
But people do pray, and they pray for a lot of different things, you know, your sister needs an operation on her crotch, your brother was arrested for defecating in a mall. But most of all, you'd really like to fuck that hot little redhead down at the convenience store. You know, the one with the eyepatch and the clubfoot? Can you pray for that? I think you'd have to. And I say, fine. Pray for anything you want. Pray for anything, but what about the Divine Plan?
Remember that? The Divine Plan. Long time ago, God made a Divine Plan. Gave it a lot of thought, decided it was a good plan, put it into practice. And for billions and billions of years, the Divine Plan has been doing just fine. Now, you come along, and pray for something. Well suppose the thing you want isn't in God's Divine Plan? What do you want Him to do? Change His plan? Just for you? Doesn't it seem a little arrogant? It's a Divine Plan. What's the use of being God if every run-down shmuck with a two-dollar prayerbook can come along and fuck up Your Plan?
And here's something else, another problem you might have: Suppose your prayers aren't answered. What do you say? "Well, it's God's will." "Thy Will Be Done." Fine, but if it's God's will, and He's going to do what He wants to anyway, why the fuck bother praying in the first place? Seems like a big waste of time to me! Couldn't you just skip the praying part and go right to His Will? It's all very confusing.
