I don't feel ridiculed; I did have to spend some time thinking about your questions.
I don't think I believe there is an "actual physical force that emanates from good thoughts". On the other hand, I have seen some really excellent results from "energy work". On the gripping hand, I'm a firm believer in the placebo effect. In the end, it seems to me, that placebo or not, if something works, go for it.
In part, I think it's like djm4 says: the person the good thoughts are aimed at feels better for knowing someone -- sometimes even a stranger -- cares, and so copes better.
In part, it helps *me* to know that even if I can't do anything directly, I can at least hope for the best.
I don't get the guilts about it, because I run it on a subconscious level most of the time. To use the phrase from the Ronco commercial, I "set it and forget it". Except that I don't really forget it; it's just not foremost in my brain. And if a specific time for good thoughts has been requested (e.g., for surgery or an interview) I will go so far as to put a note on my calendar to do so.
At the same time, because I *have* seen "energy work" do stuff, I am very very careful to not to assume that I know what should happen. And so I say things like "For X's well-being" rather than "for X's recovery", because if it is X's time to die, trying to drag zir back would be cruel.
I also will not, or at least have not ever, prayed for someone's death, even in extremis; I will always say something like "for the best possible outcome with the least possible distress" or "for the right thing to happen".
Re: thinking good thoughts
I don't think I believe there is an "actual physical force that emanates from good thoughts". On the other hand, I have seen some really excellent results from "energy work". On the gripping hand, I'm a firm believer in the placebo effect. In the end, it seems to me, that placebo or not, if something works, go for it.
In part, I think it's like
In part, it helps *me* to know that even if I can't do anything directly, I can at least hope for the best.
I don't get the guilts about it, because I run it on a subconscious level most of the time. To use the phrase from the Ronco commercial, I "set it and forget it". Except that I don't really forget it; it's just not foremost in my brain. And if a specific time for good thoughts has been requested (e.g., for surgery or an interview) I will go so far as to put a note on my calendar to do so.
At the same time, because I *have* seen "energy work" do stuff, I am very very careful to not to assume that I know what should happen. And so I say things like "For X's well-being" rather than "for X's recovery", because if it is X's time to die, trying to drag zir back would be cruel.
I also will not, or at least have not ever, prayed for someone's death, even in extremis; I will always say something like "for the best possible outcome with the least possible distress" or "for the right thing to happen".