There's hope for the apatheist, I should know, I once was one.
Philosopher Mr.Keith Ward writes about evolutionary biologist, author and atheist Mr.Richard Dawkins: "Dawkins conclusion that there is no God or any purpose in the universe is "naïve" and not based on science but a hatred of religion. Dawkins' strong anti-religious views originate, according to Ward, from earlier encounters with "certain forms of religion which are anti-intellectual and anti-scientific...and also emotionally pressuring."
Although I never considered myself an atheist, I strongly disliked organized religion for many years of my life for these very reasons. After all, I had gone on to engineering school and studied science and physics and chemistry. I knew how the world worked and I knew how to make the world work for me, or so I thought. My moral relativist attitude of sorts was to please everyone, to be cool, and to love all people and so quite naturally, I felt within bounds to object to people or groups trying to tell me or my loved ones how to live based on "non-provable" religious dogma.
Getting beyond those walls meant becoming receptive, slowly but surely, to the validity of ideas that are thousands of years old that when digested, are revealed as current today and as relevant today as any other modern idea. There were my own prayers too. Even though my pride still wanted to fight against it, putting my hands together, kneeling down before God and praying a simple prayer or two to my Creator began to soften that hardened heart of mine.
I understand we pray to One much greater than ourselves, our Creator, the Creator of all form and all matter. If that's too hard to conceive, don't worry, we can pray to His Son, Jesus Christ instead. We can all "see" Jesus Christ in the myriad of images and art passed down by tradition and we can know from historical accounts, the Bible, records, documents, etc. that He really existed.
Fr. Francis Fernandez writes: "In Christ we find the fullness of revelation. In his word and life all that God willed to say to mankind and to each person is contained. In Jesus we find all we should know about our own existence, in him we understand the meaning of daily life. In Christ everything has been said to us; it is for us to listen to him and follow the counsel of Mary: "Do whatever He tells you (John 2:5)" Conversation with God, Daily Meditations Volume Three: Ordinary Time: Weeks 1-12
I couldn't have fathomed that one day I would be able to
- use rational reasoning to prove the existence of God, or
- find historical and scholarly works proving the existence of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, or
- listen to the wisdom in testimony after testimony of God's work in people's lives, or
- see the many happenings in my own life as not just coincidence after chance coincidence, but indeed answered prayers and yes, miracles, or
- recognize the hard evidence that has been there all along, everywhere, bible based churches, the brick and mortar structures resulting from faith in God, and
- join a community of believers, the real flesh, blood, and Mystical Body of Christ present in this very day and age.
- If you see a guy on the street begging for money, whether you think he's scamming or not, roll down the window and give the man a few dollars.
- Skip a meal while thinking about all that Jesus Christ gave up out of love for you and me, enduring death by crucifixion and then offer up the resulting hunger, in a short prayer, for some poor soul who is starving and wondering where he will get his next meal.
- When you see someone in the store that you'd normally think critical thoughts about, this time, try saying to yourself: "there goes somebody's precious child, how her mother loves her and used to hold her as a baby in her arms and rock her to sleep."
If you've ever felt like an apatheist, the good news is that when the time comes, God willing, it will be far easier for you to recognize God's Divine Providence at work, this I can personally assure you. You will know it in your heart and those that really know you will see it in your core that something supernatural HAD to have happened to turn YOU, yeah YOU, of all people, towards the truth. "Just look at my past" you'll say over and over, just look at my past.
Whether you're an apatheist or not, what have you got to lose by making a simple prayer? Try it, no one has to see it either. Layperson to layperson, I encourage you to simply put your hands together, close your eyes and tell God: "Here I am Lord, I-want-to-know-this-great-love-that-you-have for me. Despite all of my sins, convince this hardened heart of mine of your great love for me Lord, show me your will for me, take me into your fold, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen."
