I'm Glad Some People Like the Blog - And Prayer

(I decided to lighten up the blog, seemed to ... dare I say it, 'dark' but I like white typing, so hopefully this looks nice. Plus the 'mountain' reminds of the what's out my window.)
Already have some friends who have come across it, and even a follower, yippee! And the Main Street people were very considerate in the emails they sent. Even going so far as to advise me on getting copies of my transcript in case I got expelled!

So I don't think I can legitimately get expelled. So far I haven't done anything that is against the Ecclesiastical Endorsement, and if/when I do there won't be any proof for BYU to use against me. However, I do wonder if they can refuse just over the fact that I'm a postmo and an atheist. I'd scream hate-crime if that happened. Not that it would make a difference, but sometimes I wish I would get expelled.

I say that cause if I got expelled, purely over my unbelief, I already know of some people who would be disturbed, and not just non-members. I know of some members who know me well and would think BYU had gone too far. I know some people back near my family who would be a little thrown off as well. I guess I fantasize becoming a martyr for my cause (or case, or wtv) and then watching as dozens of friends and family leave the church slowly but surely because BYU was hateful. Course, this is just a fantasy, and really I'd rather just go through fall semester simply and then switch colleges smoothly.

So I didn't have my D&C class today, I forgot we had study groups. I'll have to write about that class on Thursday so I have a better recollection of what it's like (to continue my religion class post). But the group was fun. We all sit down and meander through words for a bit, then a girl is like ''hey ... think we should pray?" Course no one says 'no', I say nothing. But then she goes into a kind and thoughtful Mormon prayer, and I realized what I would post.


Has anyone really listened to Mormon prayers?

I mean, like really listen to how they are done. I noticed this on the mission and I made myself pray in a different way. When I was a district leader I actually gave a training on prayer, I just forgot about it all till today (usually I'm late for class and miss the prayer at the beginning, thank gods).

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day" = I plan on making a living off this. I'll bring a heathen friend around Mormons before a meal and make a bet that I can guess the first 8 words, in the right order, and if I'm right he/she has to pay me a dollar. 98% of all LDS prayers start this way, and I'd laugh inside if the day was not particularly beautiful (like a blizzard) and the person would pause after realizing what they had just said.

"We thank thee for and ...." PAUSE as they think. And it goes downhill from there. But you can always be sure of three things:

1 - please bless us 'to' / or help us 'to' / or strengthen us 'to' - so many people start going off on tangents and pause on the word 'to', as if they don't know what the hell they are talking about. "Please help us to .... to ... [hmm, we're in class, so help us toooo] understand what's being taught [oh, that's good]" AND COMPLETELY ORIGINAL! I use to think, when younger, that they were listening to the Holy Spirit (i dont like saying holy ghost, even now) and just saying what he said in their head. Then I got older and realized they were just making it up and got into the habit of having 'to' statements when praying. Boy.

2 - I honestly forget the second thing Mormons always do when they pray. I want to say I did it a lot too, maybe that's why I forget. I'm sure I'll remember weeks from now and come back and post it.

Then they end in the name of Jesus. Some very spiritual people will say ''Jesus, EVEN the very Christ," which is more appropriate, but 'even'? He's 'even' the Christ? Maybe even Steven, but even Christ doesn't flow right. What does that even mean? (depends on what the definition of is ... is).
Even. He was a proper amount of atoms? He was straight and parallel? Exactly divisible by 2? Maybe as an adverb, he was exactly the Christ we were looking for. Or, Jesus, indeed the Christ. Sounds superfluous. I'm sure using 'even' is just fine, but only a certain type of people in the church use it and I bet they don't even know why.

Honestly, I apologize that I forgot the second thing Mormons do when they pray that is wide-spread. I guess that's a good sign that I've forgotten, but if I want to put on my resume 'Mormon Studies' under college I better get back into my Mormon watching.