Let's face it: there are many Christians who are not really sure that God exists. If we read the psalms, we see this nagging doubt: "Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in time of trouble?" (Psalm 10:1) Psalm 115:2 says, "Why do the nations say, Where is their God?" In the Book of Judges, Gideon doubts the presence of God, asking God to prove it is him talking to him by making the fleece dry and the ground around it wet, and then vice versa.

The idea of God is good and all, it is comforting and life-saving, but in all honesty, even staunch believers find themselves, or ourselves, sometimes doubting that God really exists. There are momentary lapses in our faith, and we have to shake ourselves hard and fast to get rid of the doubt. We wrestle with the question of why it is that bad things happen to good people. We wrestle with the question of why God allows horrible tragedies to happen, like fatal car accidents or storms like the Christmas Day tsunami or Hurricane Katrina. We ask about the real existence of God when we think about the Holocaust or the institution of slavery.

Even the staunchest believers doubt that God exists sometimes, and yet, it's all we have to hold onto.

What we struggle with is the same thing atheists struggle with. We may doubt from time to time but still pray. If we think about our own doubts, it is not hard to believe that some atheists pray and believe in heaven.

What those atheists really are -- what we all are, if I understand the definition correctly -- is agnostic. Agnostics simply do not believe that the existence of God can be known. To them, God's existence has not been proven, and, truth be told, the burden of that proof really should come from those who believe.

I believe in the existence of God. I like to run, and I absolutely absorb what the Bible describes as the "beauty of holiness" in nature. I am amazed at the creativity of God. Billions of different people, all with the same voice box (anatomically), for example, but everyone with a different voice. How come there are billions of people, but only twins look alike? Why are there literally millions of species of insects? To me, only God could have done that, but in light of what we humans define as proof of God, there is none! We cannot see God, we cannot touch God. Were we able to do that, there would be no agnosticism or atheism.

And yet, though we wonder some times and doubt other times, we come back to the need to believe in something better, something higher, and so we pray. I can see how an atheist might creep toward an altar or fall on his knees just in case there's something or someone higher. We need something more than what we see, hear or feel on a daily basis in order to survive.

Harry Emerson Fosdick, who was once the pastor of the historic Riverside Church in New York, said in his book, "The Meaning of Faith," that the trials of life are the single biggest obstacle to having faith. In the case of atheism versus theism, it is the absence of a tangible presence that gets people tripped up.

But I think it's OK to err on the side of caution. I would rather pray to God just in case God is really there than to not pray at all and miss God's presence.

Hats off to the atheists.