Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Can faith be a bad thing?

Two weeks ago my daughter got very sick, and ended up in the hospital.* She was so ill on the first night I honestly thought she was going to die (thank god for the nurses in the ER, who apparently deal with crying mothers all the time. Thank god I never went into hysterics, I just kind of steadily leaked. Heh.) I spent two nights with her, camped out in a pediatric unit that was nicer than some hotels I've stayed at.
It was scary. I certainly was scared. However I had a task, help my daughter get better. Sick kids don't give you a chance to think, you just do.
A few times I would sit at her bed and quickly send a prayer up to the powers that be, asking for her to get better. You know, as you do. Hell, you take what you can get sometimes.
However, there are people, and were probably people in the hospital with us, who take that little prayer a bit too far. While I will pray a quick prayer I will in no way assume that my god is going to fix my kid. Sure, there may be a god out there watching over her (the god of fools and small children perhaps) but that will not stop me from actually working to make her better. However it will stop other people from actually working to make things better.
There is a class of person who would rather "Let go and let God" which is a terrible idea to me. I would never just trust that Odin is going to make everything alright, and compared to Sky-Daddy, Odin is a freaking angel at times. I mean, these people are trusting that the god equivilant of a sociopath is going to make everything OK. How does that make sense? For goodness sake, don't just trust in gods! They are gods!! They don't care.
I think these people don't get that. We're worshiping the God. The god? Not so much caring about us on a deep personal level. Supportive? Yes. When you need it. Going to interceed for you on that job interview? Probably not. Going to heal your sick child? Yeah, no. Not unless by heal you mean "provided a specialist that will fix your kid up."
These people mystify me. There is nothing wrong with doubting, and there is nothing wrong with actually working to change something yourself. We have free will for a reason. And god helps those who help themselves, and all that jazz. Is any of this ringing a bell?

*This is what happened after the trip to the ER that inspired the letter to the hospital. That trip was on Wends, she was admitted on Friday.

3 comments:

  1. i am happy she is better. pediatric nurses are the best. great with kids- even better with the family members.

    every time i hear someone say "let go and let god" i feel like pointing out that god lets children be raped on regular basis. you might want to take care of whatever it is yourself.

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  2. "Let go and let God" just bugs the crap out of me. What is the point of living if you're planning on surrendering your life to something else? And you don't have to be religious and give up yourself, anyone asking that of you is not a person you want to be around.
    The nurses were awesome, They were just so kind and willing to let me actually help in caring for my kid, which I was afraid they wouldn't be. That said, I never want to see them ever again though, heheheh.

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  3. Those things really hit home when kids are involved. Offering a prayer is fine, but it can get to the point where one can be considered deficient by caring for your child and seeking medical attention first instead of "putting God first" by praying more earnestly. In the circles I was in anyway.

    "I spent two nights with her, camped out in a pediatric unit that was nicer than some hotels I've stayed at."

    I wrote about a related issue in March on my blog. And that was our experience too, at the very same hospital (GVH, right?).

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