Atheist "prayer" ?

It's more an affirmation than a prayer, and I almost like it. Full thing is here at 43rd State Blues. The last two stanzas are perfect:

We have but one life,
brief and full of struggle,
leavened with love and community,
learning and exploration,
beauty and the creation of
new life, new art, and new ideas.

I rejoice in this life that I have,
and in the grandeur of a world that preceded me,
and an earth that will abide without me.

The first three stanzas begin with "I believe in X". That usage is always problematic, as it implies that it could be otherwise, while affirming a commitment to believe in X even if it is otherwise.

I would reword all of those. Here's a reworking of the first stanza: "I experience the passage of time and the sensory experiences associated with matter and energy, which make up all the world I have been able to observe." It's certainly less elegant than the original, but at least it doesn't come across as faith-based. I, for one, do not "believe" in time or matter or energy. I experience things which I can describe as time and/or matter and/or energy. I don't "believe" in reason; I notice that reason seems to work. Belief is unnecessary.

That said, I still think it's a beautiful sentiment. In a similar but opposite vein, James McGrath recently posted a Tillichian reworking of the Lord's Prayer that I rather like. Referring to the Divine as a person always puzzles me, as it seems like a self-obsessed projection, but oh well.