The sad story of HK and SARS (2002) big Idea 75 is Prayer and Meditation

HK SARS Pandemic

It's amazing how quickly we forget the big stories of our time  - the SARS  pandemic was high on the news agenda from November 2002 to  July2003 killing nearly 300 people in Hong Kong alone. SARS though has quickly been forgotten in most of the of the world,. Here's a powerful clip showing how the media did expose the story with a very personal commentary from HK cameraman Gary Ling.

So what's the big Idea 75 - I'm glad you asked actually  it's prayer and meditation

Prayer and meditation  are method of communicating with God or Gods that most religions have.
Prayers can take a few different forms
1) Asking for stuff for yourself - typically a child might ask for a new bike, or an adult might ask for a 'crime or transgression' of some sort to go undetected (I'll never ask for anything again).
2) Asking for stuff for others - could for example be asking for a relative to be cured.
3) Adoration - saying that you reckon God is fantastic and you adore God.

Let us Pray- for the new Pope!

4) Thanksgiving - Thanks God for giving us this beautiful view you might say when you reach the top of a nice hill somewhere.
5) Confession - God I have sinned for I have committed the sin of avarice could start this one off.
You can use Prayer beads or Rosaries as a prayer aid  to help you focus and remember the prayers.
In some religions Mandalas are used. Mandalas have intricate geometric patterns.
I was interested to learn of about the idea of non-believers praying both to see effects of praying to God they didn't believe in and also where people replaced 'God' with something else.

The word Meditation has a different feeling to it  - and translates  as  'practice in which an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realize some benefit or as an end in itself' it is generally associated with consciousness raising Eastern belief systems like Hinduism and Buddhism and can be used with Yoga.
Both Prayer and Meditation can be beneficial as a method of reflection and consideration and could be of value in a life crowded with things and actions - you can look here for a believers (not Beliebers)  point of view  and here for humanist (near the bottom of this Sam Harris blog) - I'm going to give this a try for a week or so starting tomorrow.