Sabbath Messages > Sabbath Message: Oct. 23, 2004
Good Sabbath
October 23, 2004 "May the Lord bless thee and keep thee;
May the Lord make His countenance to shine upon thee;
May the Lord turn His countenance unto thee and give thee peace"
Amen
(The great Kohan blessing which traces my ancestry from Moses brother Aaron)
Oh it rained. I love rain, walking in it (not driving in it); my favorite is under an umbrella so I can hear the drops spatter against it, with my raincoat collar pressed against my neck while enjoying every drop--the louder the better. However, I was in my car driving to the train station for a trip north, and reaching the station, was trapped in the car, for the umbrella couldn't handle the wind and I wasn't about to get soaked by what I love. I sat there listening to the music on the radio and watched the "cloudburst" surround Autumn, with leaves racing for cover and taxis inanimate as they also waited for the end of this storm. Wow, how unusual. I remember having to stop on the highway in Houston and in South Florida rain, but this was San Diego--how unusual.
The train was partly filled by dripping people, some nodding off, some racing to the cafe to buy something warm.I just continued to look at the flooding of the streets paralleling the train's way, with the conductor announcing, "look at the flooded streets; aren't you glad you're riding my train?" This was a warm, funny guy whom I had enjoyed before. Warm funny people are needed when soaked.
When ever I'm in a difficult, uncomfortable situation, I think of Bill Wade and thousands of Marines and service people in far worse conditions, and being shot at too! It's called perspective and it's important in life.
I read an article about whether a parent should discuss with a child, pending death, when that child is inflicted with a terminal illness. Researchers in Sweden surveyed some 400 parents whose children had died of cancer. Not one of the 147 parents who had spoken with their child about death said that they regretted it. However, 27% of the 257 parents who hadn't said they wished they had.
But we are protective of our children and think that innocence is a coat of armor, shielding the child. Who looks forward to having such a terribly painful discussion with anyone about their terminal illness? When I've had the experience, I always have given a spiritual answer which I happen to believe. There is no distance between my God and me, for an intimate God protects through mortality and immortality, for that is what faith engineers. About 50,000 children die each year and a half-million deal with life-threatening health issues. Researchers have found that at age three, children have a rudimentary feeling that death is a changed state of being and by 5 or 6 they realize that everyone dies eventually.
Life is an unexpected condition while death is an inevitable expectation.
"Everyone's life is a plan of God." (Horace Bushnell)
"Everyone's life is a fairy tale, written by God's fingers." (Hans Christian Anderson)
"It is not death, it is dying that alarms me." (Montaigne)
"Death is not a foe, but an inevitable adventure." (Sir Oliver Lodge)
The question is can an adult handle the truth? I wonder. We watch an election where fear becomes the disease spread by spinmeisters and professional speechwriters, who are then interviewed on media so that their fearful fiction can spread like the poison it nourishes. Truth is the barrier to fear, for even when we know the terrible possibilities of one of life's inevitable issues, we are better able to handle it, rather than succumbing to fearfulness. That's what makes us mature adults; it isn't the chronology, but rather the awareness that protects our senses.
"Dear God, please grant peace, well-being and blessing unto the world, with grace,loving-kindness and mercy for us."
As November approaches, may we be able to celebrate Thanksgiving, free from fear and terror, embracing truthfulness, as families gather, sharing peace and grace and love.
Look forward to the blessings of liberty and not the terror of fear; embrace this Sabbath with someone you love in truthfulness and fidelity.
sandy
