Sabbath Messages > Sabbath Message: February 25, 2006
Good Sabbath
February 25 , 2006
"Before you admonish someone, let him know that you sincerely care about him."
("Love your neighbor" book by zelig pliskin)
"Love thy neighbor", as corny as the "joy of dying"- from a new book "Mrs.Hunter's Happy Death", by John Fanestil, yet both so possible and certainly not impossible. As I've thought about my dearest Franny's mysterious illness and had chilling thoughts of being without her, I prayed to God for His guidance, for faith is the true guide that takes us along the pathway to inevitability. With so many young people dying in Iraq and buried under mudslide in the Philippines, or earthquakes in other parts of the globe, or still struggling after Katrina, mystery becomes the costume for truth, fiction and inevitability.
We are mortals and that is that. And if we achieved immortality what would
we be? Would arrogance celebrate our final triumph or could we be humble at
the achievement of our mortal fate?
It is said that "people plan and God laughs". Today we postpone death so earnestly that we bankrupt ourselves, as politicians come to surround us, as if they knew the necessity for death and the possibilities of dignified expiration. If the end is to be stripped of our dignity and humanity, then our society has failed us and God. Our society is a failure-to be sure-but are we hopeless because we cling to life as we bankrupt family? Aren't we the ones who believe in God and paradise or are we just greater fools gazing at invisible rainbows?
"I think man has ruined God." (Bono)
"Forgive, O Lord, my jokes on Thee,
And I'll forgive Thy jokes on me." (Robert Frost)
"I'm still an atheist, thank God." (Luis Bunuel)
"Science is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse. Don't worship it, feed it." (Abba Eban)
We currently worry about some pandemic that could sweep crowds of us into death. Politics prepares us for some terrorist igniting it through spores, birds or germs--but the lubricant is fear! Our pandemic is fear and the images of death and foreigners who cause it. Fear conquers intelligence and can only be defeated through time and faith.
"No matter how big you get, the size of your funeral depends upon the weather."
(Roger Williams)
The only escape from death is humor, for it eases fear, accelerates comfort, always makes fun of worry and is a detour to happy departure, e.g., "Murder is always a mistake. One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner." (Oscar Wilde)
Fran's new treatment has broken the tide of breathlessness, thank God. She is breathing better, sleeping better and is more lovely than ever. Common sense is mostly uncommon. Doctors who invent new "rules", do away with ridiculous old ones and failure. Of course, this may prove premature. But whatever, I appreciate the wonderful letters and prayers from you all!
sandy
