Are you there, God? It's me, John

I spent some time in prayer last night. This is something that doesn't happen often.

It's not that I don't believe in a higher power per se, it's that I have a lot of questions and I have been unable to find satisfactory answers.

When you consider that the Bible is a book several centuries old and one that has been copied by hand thousands of times, and translated into dozens of languages, each time by a different translator, oh, and that every time a new King took over in England, the Bible was altered significantly, I think a little skepticism about the contents is not only rational but responsible.

While I may not blindly believe all of the stories I've been taught, I am fairly certain that this existence isn't just a collection of randomness; there has to be some grand design, doesn't there?

With that in mind, and when considering all of the decisions that had to have been made exactly how they were in order for any of us to wind up where we are, it's terrifying to think where we would be if any one of those decisions were made differently.

So, on occasion, I do direct my thoughts at this higher power. I wanted to make sure last night, as I was thinking about the good things that have happened lately, that I gave at least some credit to that grand design. Too often, I think the only time "God" is brought in is when there is blame to be assigned or in times of desperation. That's not fair, is it? If he exists when you have no where else to turn, he'd darn well better exist when you do.

There is no real conclusion to be drawn from this post. It's more just a thought that came over me and I decided to write it down.