"Miracle" e-mails

[Kathrin]

Most of you probably get those e-mail chain letters once in a while. “Send this to x people and you will receive a miracle”… or something the like.

Ok, superstition is bad, right?
What about if it has a prayer? Then it must be good, right?

Yesterday I got such an e-mail. For some reason I felt that I wanted to pass that one on. I sent it to 7 people, said the prayer it had on it for my friends etc, and thought I could really use a miracle tomorrow, as it said.
(Not REALLY believing it. Thinking, maybe that’s because we receive miracles every day anyway?? This way we will pay attention to them.)

This morning now I received a letter from a good friend in which he sends me an early Christmas present, a momnetary gift that really really helps me out a LOT.

But now I feel bad. In a way. The fact that it came today made me think: “Was it bad to believe that e-mail? Is maybe that gift in a way from the devil???”

I really don’t know what to think. My friend just meant to help me because I have helped him a lot in the past I guess. And the e-mail included a beautiful prayer. But still I feel uneasy. What do you think?

Kathrin

 

[Verbum_Caro]

Hi Kathrin,

Quick question: wouldn’t your friend have had to mail you the gift before you sent out the emails in order for you to get it today?

VC

 

[Kathrin]

Yeah, but doesn’t everything in the spiritual happen OUTSIDE of time?

God works outside of time.

I really want to just be able to accept the gift and thank God for it (because I have been struggling so much, financially, while still giving to charity, so it’s not like I am a greedy person at all) but I feel guilty because I “believed” the e-mail.
And don’t they say the devil likes to tempt people with money? Maybe wanting to reinforce my believe in superstition?

But my friend meant GOOD.
I am confused.
Just in general. What to think about such e-mails. Is it ok to pass them on? If they include a prayer for people?

 

[vince2paul]

If it’s good and if I want to forward it to someone, usually I delete the last part where it says send to x people and receive miracles. I don’t want people to be superstitious, especially my school friends who easily influenced by such thing.

Well, don’t feel bad.

 

[porthos11]

Any e-mails I receive that ends with “pass this on”, goes directly to my trash bin, no matter how nice or inspiring its content may be.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Yeah, but doesn’t everything in the spiritual happen OUTSIDE of time?

God works outside of time.

I really want to just be able to accept the gift and thank God for it (because I have been struggling so much, financially, while still giving to charity, so it’s not like I am a greedy person at all) but I feel guilty because I “believed” the e-mail.
And don’t they say the devil likes to tempt people with money? Maybe wanting to reinforce my believe in superstition?

But my friend meant GOOD.
I am confused.
Just in general. What to think about such e-mails. Is it ok to pass them on? If they include a prayer for people?

I would just graciously accept the gift from your friend and thank God for it. After all, God does work in mysterious ways. Next time just delete such E-mails before you open them. Also, can you set your E-mail preferences to block spam? That might help.

 

[Kathrin]

When I was a kid at school, I had a horrible experience getting so anxious about a “bad luck” kind of chain letter. Now I really don’t want to pass things on that might other people feel that way! This one didn’t say anything would happen if you DON’T pass it on.

But maybe I was tempted. Because some things had been difficult and I was hoping for a miracle? That’s what makes me feel bad.

Well, maybe God is showing me that passing on such e-mails isn’t wise because then you may feel bad even if something good does happen.

Weird thing I got this mail from a Catholic friend. I wrote her back today and told her what happened. I am curious of her reply and opinion.

Kathrin

 

[water]

It doesn’t matter how good the prayer is, if it has this infamous saying "“Send this to x people and you will receive …”, it will go straight to my Trash bin.

It is plain supertitious.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

What to think about such e-mails. Is it ok to pass them on? If they include a prayer for people?

I think it is wrong to pass them on if they have any superstitious promise attached to them. I don’t want to be responsible for making people confused about matters of faith.

Of course, if you did not realize it was wrong, there is no guilt on your part.