Totally Unbelievable!

Recently I read at Deacon Greg Kandra's excellent blog, The Deacon's Bench-Where a Roman Catholic Deacon Ponders the World, that "more than a 100,000 Britons have downloaded 'certificates of de-baptism' from the Internet to denounce their Christian faith." When I read that I literally felt sick to my stomach. Knowing the Church is falling short on its evangelization efforts is one thing, finding out people want to denounce the graces received at baptism, is beyond my comprehension. Do these people realize they want to denounce a powerful anointing, and the life of the Trinity within? I guess they don't see it that way. How sad that they want to live a life without prayer, belief, hope in everlasting life and the wisdom to see the world and creation with the "eyes of faith." Religious rituals, prayer, Christian meditation and contemplation are healing and nurturing for the soul. Why would someone want to live without hope? Hope that there is more to life than what we can see and touch. There is a soul which survives bodily, physical death and an existence beyond this one. Perhaps it is because I have such a deep faith, an unshakable faith, that I can't imagine living a life without it. For me, prayer strengthens me and gives me courage to face the trials and tribulations of this world. I can't imagine a life without prayer, without my deep faith. How would I have survived the losses I've had to endure, if I didn't have prayer to get me through. My relationship with God is an anchor in my life and gives me courage and inner strength. But I guess people have their reasons to deny God's existence, to deny the peace and inner security that a prayer life gives. But what bothers me is that they are trying to convince others that hope, prayer and a relationship with God is not valuable or important for human beings and that simply is not true. All the studies support the view that belief in God, prayer and religious rituals help human beings, are good for them. Why close yourself to Mystery, to the comfort of prayer, to the power of the Holy Spirit? I will never understand "de-baptism," I will never understand why people would choose hopelessness instead of hope. I thank God for my Catholic Christian faith, it's enriched my life beyond what words can say.

NJA