Other differing thoughts on prayer [View All]

[Orrex]

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert-like island with a tiny trickle of a stream running from the mountain. The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agree that they had no other recourse but to pray to God. However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.

The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the island remained barren.

Then they realized that they should have prayed for more water, so that night they did so. The next morning, the island remained nearly parched, as did the men.

After a few days they were both ravenously hungry and very nearly dehydrated. But still they maintained their faith, and still they prayed.

After a week, delusional and suffering from heatstroke, the first man prayed for a chocolate jellyfish as tall as the sky, while the second man prayed for a wicker basket under which he could crawl in case of infiltration. In the morning, neither had appeared.

A few days later a ship happened to be passing, and a landing party found the two men near death. They rescued the castaways, brought them aboardship, and gave them prompt medical attention.

"Our prayers have been answered," said the first castaway.

"How so?" asked the ship's captain. "Did you pray for a ship?"

"Well, no," admitted the man, "but we prayed for food and water, and here you are."

"I see," the captain said indulgently. "Well, we were just doing what any compassionate person would do."

A few days later the castaways had recovered enough to stroll the deck, when they bumped into the captain again.

"What's this vessel's mission, by the way?" asked the second castaway.

"It's a leisure cruise," said the captain. "Every year we host a meeting-at-sea of the Atheists Fanatics Inquisition Board."

edited to correct a typo