"When you pray, God has one of three answers: 'Yes, no and you've got to be kidding,'”

I was told by my pastor not to pray for things like "help with a difficult website content project" that I was capable of doing myself.

Wow. What a can of worms!

Work hard, MM.

or that it was, in fact, actually given.

O,r the Creator might recognize that you are fully capable of accomplishing the job on your own.

Help might be given by Senor Frog as well. There's an equal amount of evidence.

They can change the wording all they want. Doesn't make the cop-out any less craven.

So, prayer isn't needed, anyhow.

Anyhow, how would one know such a thing, in any case? Does your deity provide information on neuroscience research as it applies to marketing? Google does. The stack of books on my desk does.

You just have to interpret it the right way. For example, you can interpret the story of God forming Eve out of Adam's rib is actually describing the development of the sex chromosomes.

That approach, somehow.

They are scientists, all, and discuss science in those books. One is a Nobel laureate, who is Jewish, although he never discusses Judaism. The others say nothing about their beliefs, just their research. Nothing about religion in any of the journal articles I have referenced, either. Neuroscience research appears to have no connection to religion at all.

from deities that just gave the initial push to active godlets intervening in the physical world by playing the role of muse.

Your theology seems to adapt itself to whatever situation you find yourself in.

Back when I was in college I took a course in computer programming. He put so many unfindable bugs in my programs that he was clearly telling me, "Don't become a computer programmer." I knew it had to be God, because I never could have created bugs so difficult to find. Anyway, I listened to God, I did not become a computer programmer, and now I can post on websites that someone else programmed anyway.

I abandoned the idea of becoming a programmer immediately. Who could have predicted that I would own a small software company with just one employee in 1988? I guess I ended up as a programmer anyhow. Time passes. Stuff changes.

I could have been like Bill Gates and made billions selling buggy software.

grown another 6 inches my prospects at an NBA career as a 6'10" athlete would have been much better than as a 6'4" athlete...

I ended up in the infantry carrying an M60 and a .45 instead of playing hoop...


Pray in one hand, shit in the other....I think we all know how that turns out.