Sabbath Messages > Sabbath Message: May 7, 2005
Good Sabbath
May 7, 2005
"Praised are You, O Lord
Who has blessed us with life, sustained us
And enabled us to reach this day."
Another Sabbath; Disneyland celebrates its 50th anniversary. I remember giving a surprise combined 100th birthday party for my beloved Frances (both of us had reached 50), we had been allowed to use the private club and it was filled with friends. I had also learned that it was the 50th "birthday" of Anne Frank (who was denied life and celebration) and Mickey Mouse (the first rodent we learned to like). This week is the 60th memorial remembrance of the liberation of the Nazi death camps and Holocaust Day , even as others are slaughtered everyday, awaiting civilization's and the UN to take note and to stop it. Tyrants are everywhere, in the office, the various capitals and in our memories. Can we ever improve?
Yes, is the answer and when we stop believing that we are truly doomed.
"No affliction nor temptation, no guilt nor power of sin, no wounded spirit nor terrified conscience, should induce us to despair of help and comfort from God."(T. Scott)
Hope is both shadow, cast by terror and illumined faith in a God of forgiveness. Hope is for the living when faced with death, tyranny or famine. There is no excuse for most of these to still exist. We wait for God to act, for Messiah to arrive, for human nature to become humane. But we must never wait in silence, for fear does not make courage disappear--but rather appear.
"There was a time when I knew the goal but not the road; now it is the opposite; perhaps not even that. There is more than one path open to us. Which one leads toward God and which one leads towards man? I am searching for a special course; one that lies between words and silence." (Elie Wiesel) (I shall always remember the weekend that Fran and I spent with this gentle angel.)
Spirituality involves the vision of good, a collective group of experiences which adds up to goodness and Godliness. It is not invisible, but rather an active organism that needs nourishment to grow and evolve. The evolution of a soul is towards God, but it takes many paths.
Love is the key ingredient to living; it is spirit personified and soaring soul, life lived. Life cannot end with death for then there would be no faith in God. It is a passage from one understanding to true comprehension of caring for others, for loving others, for sacrificing for others. We become godlike when we become teachers of the young and nurturers of any soul that wanders unexpectedly by.
"We give thanks to God who shares with us
A small spark of His glory and wisdom.
Involving us in the drama which is both His and ours-
The partnership of completing the work of creation. (Nathum Waldman).
Yes, it is we who have the chance to complete creation, which will remain incomplete until we learn to love each other and find peace and goodness in each of us. While evil makes us detour, we do not have to follow it or them. Each builds the pathway to take towards holiness. In that we will find our true strength and calling. It will be recognized by the warmth of the love that it will engender. I have found it and I share it.
"For the Lord is good;
His loving-kindness endures forever;
His faithfulness is unto all generations."
(Psalm 100)
Today I spend with my love, walking hand-in-hand, heart-unto-heart. Join me!
sandy
