Today I saw a woman with Rosary Beads on the bus, mumbling to herself, doing what I assumed was praying. I thought it was an odd thing to do -- not praying -- but to do so on the bus.
You see, I'm a Catholic but one of those covenient Catholics. I don't go to Church unless it's for a major holiday (maybe) or if someone dies. I went to CCD, have all my sacraments and all that. So, technically, I'm a Cathiloc.
I'm not sure why I never bought into the entire Catholic thing (other than guilt), but it was never really for me.
I bet your follow up question is, so do you believe in God? Well yea, I believe in the fact that there is something bigger than us in this world but I'm not sure what. I'm a type of guy who needs to see, feel or smell it to believe it. Yes, that's hard to do with God (no matter which God you believe in), but I refuse to think this world is just a one-shot deal. It would be depressing if it was. So in that sense, I do believe in a higher being, a bigger place, a God, if you will.
When it comes to my kids, my wife and I talk to them about heaven and God when the subject of death comes up or the inevitable questions pop: "Daddy what are those stones over there in the grass?"or "Where do we go when we die?"
This leads me to my original thought. Why do we pray?
I guess it's to each his own, but I want to think it's because we are looking for strength to get though a situation, ask for luck, ask for answers, feel a sense of security in this crazy world, etc. The main theme is that we are all looking for comfort for some reason or another -- no matter how you "ask" for it.
I personally believe that whether or not you pray, we all need a combination of help and good luck in life. That's just how it works. However, sometimes you just have to ask for it.