[Formatted strangely for Hi5's SUCKY inability to handle real text]

I've been calling myself a Taoist for years now. Although I perhaps do not know much about it; just stand under it. I rejected Christianity decades ago. I called myself an atheist until I learned that I am not qualified to be an atheist. You see, I believe in the soul, in life eternal, in what lies beyond the veil, even in spiritual forces and Chi. But in the decades since I renounced Christianity and all it's clones (Islam, Judaism. etc.) I have never prayed. I felt it would be hypocrisy to pray to a god I don't believe in. Recently I have met some witches (Wiccans) and have been told that prayer is just another form of magic. That I can understand; and appreciate; if not practice. My question to the Taoists is... what do you/we/I do? If you feel like (quote)praying(quote), but have no god to pray to. I see the boy across the street. He lives there. I admire him from a distance. I also see the man he lives with. The man who yells so loud that I can hear him from my apartment. Sometimes he goes out into the alley and yells. Once he yelled really loud. (quote)I am sick of YOU and your problems(quote), he screamed. Then he banged on the garbage dumpsters so hard that he hurt himself and cursed and yelled some more. Then he walked up and down the alley yelling. Tonite there were police cars in front of his apartment, for a long time. I don't care about the man. I care about the boy. If I can't pray for him, what can I do?

I pray to the four winds, to the eternal fire, the the rivers of my homeland, to the earth itself

Tao is elemental in nature, and nature itslef

honour the magic between us all

if you pray, do it properly with insence and calligraphy

it soothes the mind and caresses the soul


but beware of black arts

I like the way you put in perspective the believe in God and the terrible things that happen in our world. That may make you think there is not God and we are only humans living at the mercy of nature and luck. However, science have shown we are all brothers and our hability to survive depends on how well we learn to live with others.
I do not believe there one religion better than the other, although my personal preference is Taoism because of its balanced view of life.
In the case of the boy and I bet throughout your life you have seen several opportunities where you can help. Maybe the father needs somebody to talk to, maybe the boy needs a foster family that may be able to find.
If everybody sees other people as brothers and look for opportunities to help, we could improve the life in this world a lot.