Are You There God? It's Me, Courtney

I was raised Roman Catholic, and while I am glad I was for the moral aspect, I am no longer practicing. What I've learned about prayer came more through experience and this email chain than anything else.

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. So, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while."

In my life, I have been carrying an emotional burden for the past four years. And it has been a hard four years. Many other troubles entered my life, I believe it's because I was being weighed down by this burden. It wasn't until I met my friend Andrew who taught me how to pray. At first it sounded too simple. How could it even work? And then I tried it, and strangely I felt better. Now I don't know if there is a God or not, and that's not a debate I am ready to tackle. What I do know, is that even if there isn't one, praying to him lifts my burdens. My prayer is simple, it goes something like this.

"Dear God, the universe and spirits. Please give me the strength to get through this. I'm putting it out in the universe, I am asking you to help me carry it."

In many ways it reminds me of my favorite verse in the bible: "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13