Oct 31 2009
When Things Come Together
I’ve been working very hard on some projects, and the months of hard work is beginning to pay off. I’m getting some traction, getting some interest and seeing this happen makes all the late nights and hard work really pay off. The other night, I got to thinking… when I was a Christian… everything coming together, as it is now, would have been attributed… NOT to my hard work, but to God. Because, things don’t just happen… they happen because I prayed to God about it, asked Jesus for His hand in it. Because, under no circumstances should it be attributed to myself, and myself alone.
Now when I accomplish things and see good things coming together, I attribute it to a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance, and great support from my husband, family and friends. I do NOT let some guy in the sky take all the credit for something he hasn’t done.
I do think it is a special thing when people, things, ideas come together at just the right time. But now, I remember something I heard Oprah say a long time ago. When these things happen, it is not… as so many will say… luck. It is Opportunity meeting preparedness. I see that now… more clearly than I ever have. All of my preparedness is now meeting some opportunity, and it is a fantastic thing.
Curious how many of you out there have had a similar experience. Any things you would now like to claim as your own, and not as a result of God randomly choosing to make it happen for you?
7 responses so far
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Since leaving my religion behind a year ago, I have also more greatly appreciated my successes in life. Not in a self-centered way as Christians would like to believe. I find joy in my successes and gain experience from my failures … but take I credit for it either way.
Since I recently launched my own business, many things have occurred that I would have attributed to God in the past. Now looking at it without a blindfold of superstition, I see it has nothing to do with faith or luck. It is a result “luck” you make out of hard work and relationships you’ve built. Not much has changed in how I do things, I just don’t praise an imaginary being every time I have success. I save my time for people that actually exist.
For you amusement, below is an actual email prayer I received from a friend today. He’s a good guy, but very brainwashed. He still believes I’m a Christian:
Fear. Trembling. Nothing without Him. What a terrible and self-deprecating religion.
theBEattitude, I could not agree with this more. That prayer, one that represents prayers I said a hundred times over back in the day, is so crazy to me now. I can’t even imagine going back to feeling that way.
“Curious how many of you out there have had a similar experience. Any things you would now like to claim as your own, and not as a result of God randomly choosing to make it happen for you?”
I’m curious to know why you are curious about this.
Are you seeking validation?
Also, now that you are an atheist, are you still going to take Christmas day off this year? What about the exchanging of gifts? Are you still going to have a tree and all, or are you in boycott mode? Just curious
Mark
“Fear. Trembling. Nothing without Him. What a terrible and self-deprecating religion.”
Hi.
What’s so terrible about self deprecation?
Nothing if you’re doing it for a good reason. Self deprecation isn’t the problem, it’s doing it for the glory of an imaginary deity that I have a problem with.
This is exactly my experience and, in some ways, what led to my deconversion.
I was always taught the “seek ye first” method, that things would come together if you placed priority on God and trusted in Him. However, when things fell into a downward spiral, I was told that God was just breaking down my natural effort and showing me that I need to place even more trust in Him.
And yet, it seems like the less I tried and the more I prayed, the worse things got and the more depressed I became. It was only until I actually started working towards my happiness and using my natural capability towards positive ends that things started to get better. At this point, I had stopped praying altogether to test God. If all I was relying on was my human effort, things should actually get worse (albeit, I didn’t feel like there was much room for that). Instead, as one would assume, not only did things get better, but now, at the culmination of my efforts, I feel fantastic.
The notion that it is wrong to use our effort and willpower to make positive change is incredibly detrimental. I’d be lying if I said that I’ve completely worked through all of the issues that I developed under that strain. However, I’ve come a long way since then and it’s a wonderful thing to be able to actually say that I’m content.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Janus! Isn’t it a good feeling to see your hard work produce something *better* than before?? Also great to hear you say your content. That is a great thing!