Sabbath Messages | Sabbath Message: Sept. 4, 2004
Good Sabbath
September 4, 2004 "It is good to give thanks unto the Lord,
And to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High."
(Sabbath Prayer, Psalm 92)
Lord
Were You there on 9/11?
Are You in Florida along with the hurricane
and the fears of fleeing souls?
Were You at the NY convention?
Indeed, where are You these days?
Yet I see Your works on my morning walks as I watch summer autumning its
way, with thickened vines, and fragile flowers made more brilliant by early
morning cold. Have You visited human nature lately? Do You observe the present
day politics of destroying the other party and candidates, rather than competing
with them? Are You pleased with the nature of what You created? When You
fashioned Eve from Adam's rib, were You thinking of a better creature, more
heart, more loving, or were You occupied with some other emergency, perhaps
on a distant planet that we are yet to discover.
For discovery is the making of wisdom. Yes, living many years may bring wisdom
along with aches and pains, but what of discovery, the newer places and things,
the technologies that might cure cancer and other unpronounceable afflictions?
However, old age brings more impatience as we cry "why and when,"
for we need some wisdom now, while alive.
We need to comprehend Your actions and inactions, for sniffing a flower is
pleasing to the senses, but looking at hatred and slaughter seems more explicit
and ever present. You seem to put up with both and we wonder "why"
and "when" will it end? Or do we have to reach heaven as immortals
before we will know, when it is on Earth that we need to not lose faith in
You and our fellow humans.
It is not enough to memorize words from the past, to keep asking for forgiveness
from sins and cures for pain. Yet it is all a testing ground, isn't it? Are
we placed here on Earth to learn to make choices of good over evil, forgiveness
over hate, love over disdain? I think so, yet is that a good use of our time;
is that the proper use of human eternities stretching into generation after
generation. We are frail with brittled bones and weathered bodies, but we
are strong in our passions. Is that what You wish it to be or are You learning
too, for You are fashioned in our image, too,
I know as a professional that people are cheated when they have faith in
someone who means to plunder them. As we grow older, we seem to lose more
discernment of who tells us the truth and who promises what cannot be delivered.
But that is what religion is all about, isn't it; the search for truth guided
by faith in some one we cannot see except in the blooms and blossoms. Is
that what You meant it to be or is there something also unseen, the true
pathways which will take us to You and to better place? I think so.
Yet deep within me are the lessons taught by Aunt Betty who connected me
with You, and along with parents,and others who lent me love, affection and
pride in myself and my potential. Most of my relatives are gone to a better
place, but my memories of them are as vivid as the blossoms I see each morning.
I refuse to believe that they are dust, but rather they are with the God
in Whom we have faith and choice.
Please let Your countenance shine upon those whom I love and who are deserving;
let Lester's heart beat strong, and let Uncle Solly and his blessed wife,
Irene, reach Your side when You decide so that they are free of life-long
pain. And please keep Bill Wade safe in Iraq and when he returns to his family.
I believe that there are humans who are Thy blossoms too. May they enjoy
this Sabbath in love and peace.
sandy
