Thank You for Your Help
August 5th, 2009Vigil Starts
I want to thank everyone who is praying for my sister. I take it very seriously. Elijah prayed, and God sent fire from heaven which completely consumed a slaughtered bull, the wood it lay on, and the water that had been poured around it. A negative result on a biopsy is a much smaller order, and I know your prayers and mine can get it done. Human efforts, on the other hand, can’t accomplish it.
Ordinarily I think it’s wrong to let people know when I fast, but on this unusual occasion, I think there is some benefit to be had by acknowledging it here. I know of three things I used to fail to take notice of when I needed an answer to prayer. One is the need for repentance, the second is fasting, and the third is the wisdom of making an offering when you receive what you need. I never pray for anyone to be healed, without praying that they will examine themselves and turn from anything that could impede their recovery, and recently I learned that it is good practice to follow up with some kind of offering or alms, when a prayer is granted. This is good information to have, so I’m presenting it. I’ll be fasting until the lab results come in.
I don’t know what else to do. I’ll be going to church tonight, and I’ll get them involved. I’ll pray on my own. Other than that, I guess I’ll go on with life as usual.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:51 PM
A crescendo of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services is the three-word phrase: “Tshuva [return/repentence], tefilah [prayer], u-tzedaka [and charity] avert the evil decree”.
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http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/tw.htm : Repentance, or return to G-d or the G-dly way of life; modifying one’s behavior by the following four steps: stopping the sinful behavior, confession before G-d, regret over past actions, and commitment to changed behavior in the future. If done out of fear of Divine punishment, Teshuvah turns past deliberate sins into “accidental” sins; if done out of love of G-d, Teshuvah has the power to transform deliberate sins into “good deeds.”
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This refers to personal sins between man and God. Wronging another requires compensating damage and gaining forgiveness from the wronged party. One can’t steal from another and confess to a third party and expect to be forgiven. Judaism teaches that God won’t forgive sins committed against those made in His image. In cases where it isn’t possible (not merely inconvenient or uncomfortable) to make amends and ask for forgiveness, a competent clergyman might suggest a suitable action to compensate the community. A vandal might devote years to reversing the damages of vandalism in his town. A corporate polluter that harmed the rivers in a community might work in environmentalism.
August 6th, 2009 at 7:58 AM
I wonder if we lose our reward when we say,”I tithe” or “I fast” and consequently “I’m tithing” (which is the same as saying “I tithe”) or “I’m fasting” (which is more immediate). These are testimonies to our seriousness regarding God or a situtation, or encouragements to others to join us. As long as we are not bragging, which you clearly aren’t.
It’s good to hear the seriousness with which you are taking the situation (the “benefit” you speak of).
How did church go last night?
August 6th, 2009 at 9:18 AM
I felt like I needed to pass on some very valuable information I had found helpful. I hope that is sufficient justification.
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Church was wonderful. I’m blogging it today.