Spiritual vs Religious

Whether secular or non-secular there are terms used in the spiritual world and the religious world that will always bring a frown of doubt.  There are many questions that arise on several levels but I will try to convey the basic simple ones.  I don't have the expertise to get very deep into the issues and, frankly, I don't even care to get into it that much.

Spiritual - Religious
When speaking of a spiritual being, a spiritual feeling, a spiritual experience does that infer connotations of mysticism or para-normal senses or Asian-inspired religiosity?  On any given day we can turn on a tv program that searches for ghosts, centers on seances, emphasizes the spirituality of feng shui , etc.  So does that mean that spiritual is mystical or para-normal.  The secular world would have us believe that being spiritual has nothing to do with our religion and our relationship with God.  They would rather we bought into the subtle hints that to be spiritual is to be silly, uninformed and gullible.  How sad.

To be referred to as a 'religious leader' should garner respect from most corners of society. But does it?  In today's secular dominated world it's almost a slur, it's someone to scoff at and not take seriously.  Have we been indoctrinated to feel that the word religious really means bible-thumping, holier-than-thou preaching, or dull & staid living?  I mean, you can't be religious AND have fun!
Can you follow and practice a religion without being religious?  And...to be a religious person does that mean you have to walk around quoting the Bible or the Koran? 


Our religion molds who we are at each stage of our life.  For the secularist it's all about 'if it feels good, do it' and 'don't worry, be happy' and the end game is just the end.  But, for the religious it's all about 'do unto others...' and 'be still and know that I am God' and the end game is entering the Kingdom of the Lord.  One gives no hope for the future and one gives great positive hope of things to come.

Father we know of your love for us and your presence at our side.  Through you we will be strong and courageous and, in your name we will stand tall and proclaim our devotion.  Amen.

~~~~

Another Double Standard

In recent months I have asked various family and friends their perception of some particular restaurants and the decor they see when going there to eat.  Most of the answers were basically the same which brings up a 'plethora' (I love that word) of additional questions.

This is the basic question that I have asked:
>When going to a Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese restaurant what is your reaction to the statue of Buddha that is often placed somewhere in the customer area?
>If you go to an Indian restaurant for some curry, do the Hindu symbols bother you in any way?
>Should you happen to pick a Lebanese or Moroccan restaurant for dinner, does the crescent moon symbol on your menu, tableware, and behind the cash register offend you in any way?

Asia is predominately Buddhist, with a smattering of other religions thrown in the mix.  They are not suppose to consume alcohol and although they are allowed to eat fish and meat, they tend to be vegetarians.  This is a religion that teaches peace and self awareness.


In India the cow is sacred.  Although the Hindu laws vary by region and sect they generally don't eat beef and usually not pork and a large part of their diet includes vegetables.  Hindu is a religion of many gods, each with it's own purpose and meaning.  Hinduism, also is a religion that promotes a peaceful presence and acceptance.


The Muslim religious symbol is the crescent moon that most of us can easily recognize.  This is a religion that has many dietary laws that includes no alcohol beverage and not eating pork.  The Muslims worship Allah and the profit Muhammad.  This is a religion that promotes forced conversion and sacrifice.  This is the largest single religion in the world.



The Star of David and color of medium or royal blue are two symbols that are familiar worldwide for the Jewish religion, the oldest of the major religions.  There are numerous dietary laws in the Jewish religion, but the key is that all foods are to be 'kosher'.  The Jewish religion follows the one God, Jehovah, and teaches peace, accountability, and sharing.




An off-shoot of the Jewish religion, the Christian symbol is a cross which they use to indicate that they are followers of Jesus Christ.  There are many subgroups but generally there are no dietary laws.
While the old covenant of the Bible is dedicated to the Jews, the new covenant is dedicated to the gentiles.  Christianity promotes peace, understanding, and individual choices and is the second larges religion in the world.

While I realize the above is a very very short snapshot of the major religions, why is it that this is the only religion that is frowned upon when placing their symbol in public?   The people I asked about this gave this answer, one way or another:
a. The cross denotes religion while the other symbols are more decoration.
b. The cross and star of david are for a religion but the others are for a culture.

Huh?!?!?!?!   This demonstrates just how much we need to pray for the lost souls and koolaid drinkers.

Lord, we thank you for all you have done for us and given us.  We pray that those lost and not sure just how to come to you will know that you already know their heart and all they need do is recognize your presence in their life.   Amen.
~~~~

Where Is The Outcry?

I'm sharing this article because it is so amazing that this story is not on the national news.  A few soldiers of the Jihadist Muslims kill innocent civilians and nothing is said by any news agencies in Europe or the U.S.  If a few soldiers of the US military were to kill even 1 innocent civilian it would be plastered across the TV screen around the world.  Where is Obama's outrage?  Where is his staunch support of religious freedom not matter what?

So, please read this article and know that these butchers have no intention of letting us Christians live side-by-side with their families.
_________________________________

At least 16 Nigerian Christians at prayer butchered after Islamists make good on threats

By Ibrahim Garba

JewishWorldReview.com |

ANO, Nigeria— (TCSM) An early morning attack on a Christian church service in northern Nigeria left at least 16 people dead. The attack follows a string of violent incidents against Christians in the predominantly Muslim north.

Gunmen on motorcycles stormed Bayero University in the city of Kano Sunday morning during a Catholic mass held in the school's theater hall. The unidentified assailants threw improvised explosive devices as they traveled from the gates to the theater, and opened fire as people fled.

University spokesperson Alhaji Mustapha Zahradeen said seven people were killed. Eyewitness, however, said rescue operators have removed at least 18 dead bodies.

Security officials suspect Boko Haram, an Islamist insurgent outfit, carried out the attack. The group, whose name means "Western education is a sin," issued a statement last month warning that they will attack schools. Boko Haram has been blamed for killing more than 1,000 people since 2009 in its bid to overthrow Nigeria's secular government and establish Islamic sharia law nationwide.

Nigeria's political system tries to strike a balance between the Muslim north and Christian south. The use of religiously-targeted violence by Boko Haram, a group based in the north, is posing a challenge to the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian. In response, Mr. Jonathan has dispatched security forces, but sent mixed signals on whether his government would talk with the insurgents.

"Those who are saying we should dialogue are correct; those who are saying we should not dialogue are also correct," Jonathan told reporters Saturday after touring the bombed office of ThisDay Newspapers in Abuja.

Suleiman Ramat, a human rights activist in Kano, says to end the violence the government needs to act more vigorously, including on efforts to reconcile with the insurgents.

"The attack on Christians is barbaric and it must stop because innocent people are always at [the] losing end," he says.

Nigerian security forces have taken some counterinsurgency steps. Security forces arrested the group's leader Muhammad Yusuf, who was then killed in custody in 2009. In Kano last week, a joint military task force raided a suspected Boko Haram bomb factory. Earlier this month, security forces praised local residents in a Muslim neighborhood of Kano who apprehended two Boko Haram fighters before they could cause mayhem.

But a steady string of attacks by Boko Haram against churches, government installations, and newspapers continue, leading to calls for the government to get more serious about responding to the group.

The spokesman of the Joint Military Task Force, Lt. Ikedichi Iweha, said today's attack was highly sophisticated and cruel. By the time his men arrived on the scene, the gunmen had fled the area.

Meanwhile, the country's National Emergency Management Agency said that it received reports of the attacks but had no local office nearby with which to respond. Instead, they helped mobilize first responders and volunteers, who were then refused access to the scene by security forces.

Among the victims of the attack are chemistry professor Jerome Ayodele and Andrew Leo of the Library Science department.

The attack at Bayero University comes just two days after gunshots and blasts at Gombe State University in northeastern Nigeria. There were no casualties in that attack, which destroyed an administrative building.
~~~~~~

The Celebration Has To Wait

It has been a seemingly long 6 weeks since Don went home to be at peace with God.  His absence has been a real test for me personally.  We had an oxygen concentrator in the house that ran continually and made noises that sounded something like a 5 second whoosh and then a thump.  This noise became a background sound that I just got use to and went on with each day not paying attention to it any longer.
Well, now that machine is gone along with just regular daily sounds from another person sharing your space and I am hearing noises day and night.  I hear every little time the refrigerator does something, the house creaks from the change in temperature or from the wind or whatever.

After the first 3-4 weeks I started seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and I felt that I was going to be able to wrap my head around the finances, house/car maintenance, etc.  I was starting to think that I could set myself on a path to being an active widow for years to come.  I mean I had decided I was going to start a walking program and walk my first 5k this fall.  But...apparently I have yet another test to take.

Last week I had my 5 yr cancer CT scan and had geared myself for a celebration.  Passing 5 yrs. is a big milestone for a cancer survivor and I had been looking forward to this for several months.  That same afternoon, the phone rang and the minute I heard my doctor's voice I knew the celebration would have to wait.  The radiologist had found a 2cm tumor on my liver. 

I wear my Livestrong band continually and have for about 4 yrs., convinced that a good attitude will carry me through any problem and I so believe that.  In all honesty, after I listened to what my doctor said, I hung up the phone and had a 5 hr pity-party.  But that's over now and what lies ahead won't be pleasant but it will be necessary.  I spend much of my time keeping the tears under control but it does seem harder now that Don is gone.  Don was my rock, he was my anchor, he made me strong.  Yes, my God is the root of those attributes but Don was the one that I could physically lean on for support.  I don't relish going through this ordeal without him by my side.  But...I know he's watching me and cheering me onward.

Lord, thank you for wrapping your arms around Don and welcoming him home.  Bless my family and friends that they will have happy healthy days ahead.  I ask for your blessing of healing and comfort and grant me a long life.  All things are possible through You and your will be done.  Amen.

~~

"Tebowing" - Touching Hearts

This is a wonderful article that explains how we can be free to express our faith and possibly touch someone else's heart and soul.


Blitzing for the Lord
By Rabbi Joshua Hess
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |

A new craze is capturing the hearts and minds of millions of fans of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow --- "Tebowing."

For the uninitiated, "Tebowing" is defined as, "to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different."

While Tebow has been caught "Tebowing" at different times in his young career, the rage only began last week when he led the Broncos to a thrilling overtime victory against the Miami Dolphins. At the end of that game the cameras panned to Tebow and, as if on cue, he began "Tebowing".

The definition and concept of "Tebowing" as well as its name are the brainchild of Denver native, Jared Kleinstein, who now runs the popular website Tebowing.com. On it you can find hundreds of "up to the minute" uploads of people "Tebowing." Among the many pictures, is one of a young boy "Tebowing" while undergoing chemotherapy, which actually caught Tebow's attention. I find the pictures amusing, cute and mostly done in good taste.

<>
Admittedly, "Tebowing" has its detractors. For some, "Tebowing" is just as silly as planking, which a New York Daily News reporter describes colorfully as a "dopey internet craze from last spring in which people were pictured lying face down in strange places."
Then there are those who believe it's an outright sacrilege. "Tebowing", they assert, is an affront to those who actually pray to the Divine and take their religion seriously.

Tim Tebow, however, is supportive of the concept. Here's what we had to say about it after practice this past Friday: "Yeah, some people don't necessarily take it seriously but they're on their knee praying, so who knows what you're going to think about after that and how that can affect you? Hopefully, it's a good example for people."

Tebow's assessment that the pro's of "Tebowing" outweigh the con's, is found in the Jewish tradition.

The Talmud teaches, "Mitoch Shelo Lishma Ba Lishma." This means that if a person, initially, develops good habits or good behaviors for the "wrong" reasons, eventually he will begin to do those same behaviors for the "right" reasons. Based on this concept, the great philosopher Maimonides asserts that people should be encouraged to fulfill the Lord's will by being offered incentives for religious observance.

It's true that most of the people "Tebowing" are not praying at all; they're just having some clean fun. But is there a downside to "Tebowing?" Instead of planking, which can be highly dangerous, they're practicing something that is not only safe and family friendly, but also deeply connected to prayer and to the Almighty. That, I believe, is a beautiful thing!

As a Rabbi, I find myself extremely envious that Tim Tebow can get so many people around the world thinking about prayer. I, and many other clergy, dream about having the platform to "preach the gospel" like he does. If Tebow's football career doesn't pan out, as the experts have been predicting for the last couple of years, ad nauseam, his contributions to faith, religion and the Lord are 'Hall of Fame' worthy.

I hope and pray that Tebow's quarterbacking skills improve over the rest of the season and that he has a successful and fulfilling football career. More importantly, though, I hope he continues to do the holy work of bringing people closer to God.

Our Nations 'Manifest Destiny'

In today's world, there are many who are painting our nation as an imperialistic demagogue of evil; we even have a president that is travelling the world apologizing for our success, our spiritual beliefs and our steadfastness.  How sad. 

After reading O'Sullivan's Manifest Destiny, I too believe that our nation had a purpose and that purpose is worth fighting to save.  In the past 60-70 years there have been many obstacles thrown in the path of that destiny and today we are facing the biggest threat to our nation since the Revolutionary War.

John L. O'Sullivan on Manifest Destiny, 1839

The American people having derived their origin from many other nations, and the Declaration of National Independence being entirely based on the great principle of human equality, these facts demonstrate at once our disconnected position as regards any other nation; that we have, in reality, but little connection with the past history of any of them, and still less with all antiquity, its glories, or its crimes. On the contrary, our national birth was the beginning of a new history, the formation and progress of an untried political system, which separates us from the past and connects us with the future only; and so far as regards the entire development of the natural rights of man, in moral, political, and national life, we may confidently assume that our country is destined to be the great nation of futurity.

It is so destined, because the principle upon which a nation is organized fixes its destiny, and that of equality is perfect, is universal. It presides in all the operations of the physical world, and it is also the conscious law of the soul -- the self-evident dictates of morality, which accurately defines the duty of man to man, and consequently man's rights as man. Besides, the truthful annals of any nation furnish abundant evidence, that its happiness, its greatness, its duration, were always proportionate to the democratic equality in its system of government. . . .

What friend of human liberty, civilization, and refinement, can cast his view over the past history of the monarchies and aristocracies of antiquity, and not deplore that they ever existed? What philanthropist can contemplate the oppressions, the cruelties, and injustice inflicted by them on the masses of mankind, and not turn with moral horror from the retrospect?

America is destined for better deeds. It is our unparalleled glory that we have no reminiscences of battle fields, but in defence of humanity, of the oppressed of all nations, of the rights of conscience, the rights of personal enfranchisement. Our annals describe no scenes of horrid carnage, where men were led on by hundreds of thousands to slay one another, dupes and victims to emperors, kings, nobles, demons in the human form called heroes. We have had patriots to defend our homes, our liberties, but no aspirants to crowns or thrones; nor have the American people ever suffered themselves to be led on by wicked ambition to depopulate the land, to spread desolation far and wide, that a human being might be placed on a seat of supremacy.

We have no interest in the scenes of antiquity, only as lessons of avoidance of nearly all their examples. The expansive future is our arena, and for our history. We are entering on its untrodden space, with the truths of God in our minds, beneficent objects in our hearts, and with a clear conscience unsullied by the past. We are the nation of human progress, and who will, what can, set limits to our onward march? Providence is with us, and no earthly power can. We point to the everlasting truth on the first page of our national declaration, and we proclaim to the millions of other lands, that "the gates of hell" -- the powers of aristocracy and monarchy -- "shall not prevail against it."

The far-reaching, the boundless future will be the era of American greatness. In its magnificent domain of space and time, the nation of many nations is destined to manifest to mankind the excellence of divine principles; to establish on earth the noblest temple ever dedicated to the worship of the Most High -- the Sacred and the True. Its floor shall be a hemisphere -- its roof the firmament of the star-studded heavens, and its congregation an Union of many Republics, comprising hundreds of happy millions, calling, owning no man master, but governed by God's natural and moral law of equality, the law of brotherhood -- of "peace and good will amongst men.". . .

Yes, we are the nation of progress, of individual freedom, of universal enfranchisement. Equality of rights is the cynosure of our union of States, the grand exemplar of the correlative equality of individuals; and while truth sheds its effulgence, we cannot retrograde, without dissolving the one and subverting the other. We must onward to the fulfilment of our mission -- to the entire development of the principle of our organization -- freedom of conscience, freedom of person, freedom of trade and business pursuits, universality of freedom and equality. This is our high destiny, and in nature's eternal, inevitable decree of cause and effect we must accomplish it. All this will be our future history, to establish on earth the moral dignity and salvation of man -- the immutable truth and beneficence of God. For this blessed mission to the nations of the world, which are shut out from the life-giving light of truth, has America been chosen; and her high example shall smite unto death the tyranny of kings, hierarchs, and oligarchs, and carry the glad tidings of peace and good will where myriads now endure an existence scarcely more enviable than that of beasts of the field. Who, then, can doubt that our country is destined to be the great nation of futurity?
http://www.civics-online.org/

Blessings

Our blessings come in different forms and sometimes it's very difficult for us to even recognize them.  The lyrics to the song "Blessings" help us to identify not only our needs but the blessings we receive in our daily lives.  Please do a YouTube search for the song and enjoy the music.

Lyrics by Laura Story

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?

What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?

And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

When Does Grieving Begin

A few years ago my dear husband, Don, started having some health issues that seemed minor yet bothersome.  The doctors did some testing and found a couple of issues that required attention, medication, and intermittent monitoring.  About 18 to 24 months ago these same health issues caused a couple of bouts that required hospitalization and treatments.  Then about 12 months ago all of the issues raised their ugly heads at about the same time and have wreaked havoc with my husbands well-being ever since.

We have seen many doctors, we have travelled to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, dear hubby has truly been poked and prodded from head to toe.  A cause for Don's health decline can not be found so the doctors are left with the only option of treating his symptoms and trying to make him comfortable.

Although I have watched my darling spouse try to remain positive, and chipper, and calm, I have also watched him become emaciated, pallid, breathless, weak, dependent.

A few days ago Don's doctor told us it was time to think about Don's at-home care, that it was important that end-of-life issues are discussed and decided upon.  While it isn't known what has caused Don's health to decline so rapidly, it also isn't know how fast it will continue to take it's toll.  The doctor, whom we have known quite well for about 12-13 years, wants us to be prepared whether it's a couple of months or a couple of years.

I have been doing a lot of crying in these last 3 days and I realize that some of that is stress and some is part of the grieving process.  As a retired Registered Nurse, I knew what was inevitable but when faced with a reality such as this, I think I am first and foremost a wife and mother.  We have been married for almost 46 years and our two lives are so tightly entwined that it's hard to get an actual handle on all the various issues that must be addressed in the coming weeks, as well as, maintain a positive, peaceful, and pleasant presence along with the various levels of nursing that will need to be added to the homemaking chores. 

So...that's why I ask the question 'when does the grieving begin'?  It may have started many months ago when the health issues started and the RN side was realizing in the very back recesses of my soul that yes this is not going to go well.  Did it start months ago as Don kept losing weight and losing weight regardless of how much he ate or what he ate. 

The word "grief" has several meanings but the only one that I can relate to is sadness.
The sadness began several months ago and will continue.  I have had a few talks with God and He has assured me that I will have the strength to get through this and He will be standing next to me through it all.  Praise the Lord.

The Greater God

"I am the Lord you God...You shall have no other gods before me."
    (Exodus 20:2-3)

Last Sunday the congregation sang a song that proclaimed that "our God is greater, our God is stronger...".  That struck me as a truly amazing thought and even at my ripe old age of 68, I am still amazed by things that confront me and make me do some thinking.
How wonderful is that?

Now, in all honesty, I believe that for decades I lived under the impression that God was the only God, not just the greatest or strongest but the ONLY one.  It brought reminders of that old adage about "my dad is bigger than your dad" business that people have always laughed about.  But this is no laughing matter.

In the first Commandment, God tells us that he is Lord of all and, apparently, that all the other gods are minor in comparison.  I had never, in all these years, looked at it that way until I heard that song at church.  So, this means that there are other gods, albeit lessor gods, in our world.  Is it any wonder then that some of our people end up looking to Buddha or one of several Hindu gods for help with issues.



When we stand in church and sing a proclamation and affirmation that our God is stronger and greater then we are proclaiming that among all the gods ours is the best!
That almost sounds childish in complexity and heretical to a conservative worshipper.

I do understand that the Commandments go on to explain that we are not to make god idols or bow down to anything or anyone other than God, but should we even be recognizing that there are other gods present in the world?  This particular religious song sends an erroneous message which is totally separate from everyones right to practice and worship their religion.  If we start lining up our God along with the others from around the world, it degrades His word, His grace and mercy.

The Four Elements and the Four Seasons

This is long but I found it thought provoking and interesting.  Please read with an open mind and ponder...

The Four Elements and the Four Seasons
by
Rabbi Jill Hammer is a poet, author, ritual-maker, and editor. She is senior associate at Ma'yan: The Jewish Women's Project, where she serves as editor of Journey and as a teacher of text and ritual. She is the founder of Tel Shemesh.

Several years ago, I participated at a week-long festival of drum, dance, and bibliodrama, that celebrated Miriam the prophetess, called, appropriately, the Festival of Miriam. The festival attempted to connect Miriam, famous for her drumming and dancing at the Sea of Reeds during the Exodus, to ancient goddess traditions of drumming priestesses while also exploring her role in the Torah. We structured the week around the four elements of earth, water, air, and fire, using the elements to explore four stages of Miriam’s life—her youth, her maturity as a prophet, her rebellion against her brother’s authority and privilege as an older woman, and her death. I was new to the four-element structure and worried that it was not connected to Judaism—that we were simply adopting a structure belonging to pagan cultures without admitting that that was what we were doing. (I already knew that the four elements, as well as the four directions of east, south, west, and north, were used in Goddess ritual, shamanism and modern paganism.) I asked several teachers if the four elements had any basis in Jewish text or tradition, but none of them could answer me.

The answer to my question was in fact very simple: the four elements have been part of Judaism for centuries. An ancient midrashic source speaks of the four elements giving birth at the beginning of time: “the fire gave birth to light, the water gave birth to darkness, the wind gave birth to spirit, and the earth gave birth to humanity.” This text gives the four elements a role in the world’s creation.

Maimonides, a Jewish legalist and philosopher of the tenth century, speaks of the four elements as follows:


There are four bodies (gufim), and they are fire (eish), air (ruach), water (mayim), and earth (afar). They are the foundation of all that is created beneath the firmament. All that comes from human or beast or bird or creeping thing or fish or plant or metal or precious stones or pearls or other building stones or mountains or the substance of earth, the form (golem) of all things is composed from these four foundations….. They do not travel through knowledge or will, but rather according to the plan (minhag) that has been set for them.

Maimonides sees the four elements as the foundation of all substance, though he makes clear that he does not see them as conscious forces. Maimonides almost certainly got his conception of the four elements from other philosophers of his time, but the idea of the four elements as a sacred foursome is very ancient. The Sumerians, an ancient Near Eastern people that influenced Israelite religion, knew of a divine tetrad, a mother, father, and two sons: the father being An, heaven; the mother Ninhursag being earth; Enki being the god of water; and Enlil the god of fire.

Bachya ibn Pakuda, an 11th century philosopher and sage known as Rabbeinu Bachya, discusses the four elements while explaining the seven marks of God’s wisdom in the universe:
The first [mark of wisdom] is the mark of divine wisdom apparent in the primary and fundamental elements of the universe. The earth, we see, is at the center. Next to it above is water. Next to the water is the air, and above everything is fire—all in a just and unchanging balance and measure. Every one of these elements maintains the proper position appointed for it....

The Sefer Yetzirah, a mystical tract, announces: “Three mothers....in the Universe are air, water, fire. Heaven was created from fire. Earth was created from water. And air from breath decides between them. “

The Zohar, a mystical text written in the thirteenth century, also sees the four elements as the foundation of the universe, and uses them as part of its mystical language. The Zohar goes even farther with the concept of the four elements, assigning each one to a direction:
Mark well this! Fire, air, earth and water are the sources and roots of all things above and below, and on them are all things grounded. In each of the four winds these elements are found: fire in the North, air in the East, water in the South, earth in the West. The four elements are united with the four winds, and all are one….The four winds of the world united at the place which afterwards was named the House of Holiness.
Fire, air, water, and earth, all are one with one another and connected to one another, and have no division between them.

Here the Zohar imagines the elements as a kind of spiritual navigation system. At the center, where all the elements are found, there is the mishkan, or holy dwelling.
The Zohar also associates the four elements with four angels and with four of the sefirot (the mystical spheres or faces of God), and even with four matriarchs and patriarchs:

Water Fire Air Earth

Michael Gabriel Uriel Raphael

South North East West

Love Strength Balance Shekhinah

Sarah Rebekah Leah Rachel

Abraham Isaac Jacob David

Silver Gold Bronze Iron



I have therefore felt comfortable adopting the four elements as a Jewish, as well as a universal, idea. The four seasons seem organically connected to the four elements. But which season for which element?

Although I could not find a text identifying the four seasons with the four elements, I felt strongly that the winter solstice and Chanukah, the festival of lights, should represent fire, which helped me map out the rest of the seasons: air/spring, water/summer, and autumn/earth. This made sense for multiple reasons. Later on, I discovered that in the Sefer Yetzirah (mentioned above), certain tribes of Israel are identified with certain directions and also certain months: Ephraim/Tishrei (autumn)/west, Dan/Tevet (winter)/north, Judah/Nisan (spring)/east, and Reuben/Tammuz (summer)/south (see Melinda Ribner’s book Kabbalah Month by Month for explication). So my mapping made sense.

Nevertheless, other sources look at this differently: the Sefer Yetzirah places fire in the summer, water in the winter, and air in the spring and fall. Gershon Winkler places fire in the summer, earth in the autumn, water in the winter, and air in the spring. Contemplating these two systems, I came to feel that there were two wheels of the seasons; an outer one and an inner one. On the inner wheel, which correpsonds to the element we most need at each season, fire (the fire of the hearth) is the spirit of winter and water (the quencher of thirst) the spirit of summer, earth (the spirit of harvest) is the spirit of autumn and air (the freshness of the breeze) the spirit of spring. On the outer wheel, which corresponds to the element we have most abundantly at each season, fire (heat of the sun) is the spirit of summer, air (the call of the shofar, the storm, and the coolness of wind) the spirit of autumn, water (rain, snow and ice) the spirit of winter, and earth (growing and planting) the spirit of spring. This outer wheel matches with the Talmud's statement that the winter months are the "days of rain" and the summer months are the "days of sun."
The Jewish calendar is organized around mythic-historical events of creation (Rosh haShanah, Passover), revelation (Yom Kippur, Shavuot), and redemption (Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim), but it also follows the natural calendar. Arthur Waskow in his book Seasons Of Our Joy discusses a very beautiful theory relating the seasons of the earth and the different life-stages of human beings to the historical cycle of the year, and his work has influenced me in my thinking. For example, he connects Passover to birth, Shavuot to maturity and relationship, and Sukkot to fulfillment and old age. My own sense of the calendar is that the earth-season, the autumn, is a time for reflection and retreat, a time when life/divinity is underground/within. The fire-season, winter, is the time when we and God begin to grow, as a seed does, and prepare for emergence. The air-season, spring, is the time when we and the Divine emerge into our full glory. The water-season, summer, is the time when drastic change overtakes us and we face death, to return again into the season of earth. Yet each season is balanced by the opposite element: in winter we receive life-giving water to water the seed, in spring we receive earth to shelter us even as we go forth into the world. In summer we receive warmth to comfort us in our time of change, and in autumn we receive fresh air to inspire and lift us even as we reflect on weighty things.

Since the time of the kabbalist Isaac Luria, Jews also associate the four elements with the four worlds: earth with the corporeal world called assiyah, water with the emotive world called yetzirah, air with the intellectual and creative world called beriyah, and fire with the world of pure spirit called atzilut. Rabbi Nachman of Tiktin, a Chasidic master, wrote:
“The first room in the Kingdom of Assiyah—its halls are made of Earth. The first room in the Kingdom of Yetzirah— its halls are made of Air. The first room in the Kingdom of Beriyah—its halls are made of Water. The first room in the Kingdom of Atzilut—its halls are made of Fire.”

We move through the levels of our soul as we move through the seasons—the inner sensations of the body, the will of the spirit to grow, the flowering creativity of the mind, and the sensitivity and depth of the heart.

The elements mark the different layers of our existence and the different stops along our spiritual journey as we move through the year. We hold the four elements in common with cultures as diverse as the ancient Greeks, the Celts, the shamans of Peru, and the Goddess traditions of the United States. As I learned at the Festival of Miriam, the elements can be a powerful tool for structuring sacred space and finding balance in ourselves. An ancient rabbinic midrash says: “The angel Michael is of snow, and Gabriel is of fire. A person should admit both angels into his heart.” Letting the four elements into our heart is one way to allow nature—the wind, the waves, the stone and the lightning—to teach us Divine wisdom.

Some Jewish Rituals Relating to the Elements:

Jewish Fire Rituals:
Lighting Sabbath candles or festival candles

Havdalah candle, marking the end of the Sabbath

Memorial candles for the dead (yahrtzeit candles)

The Chanukah menorah

The menorah in the Temple (a replica is often found in the synagogue)

The eternal light above the Ark of the Torah

The bonfire of Lag B’Omer

Carrying candles at a wedding

Burning leaven before Passover



Jewish Air Rituals:
Blowing the shofar (ram’s horn) in the month of Elul and on Rosh haShanah

Blessing spices at the end of the Sabbath

Building a booth with an open roof on Sukkot

Noisemakers on Purim

Singing or chanting as part of prayer

Dancing on the Sabbath and on Simchat Torah


Jewish Water Rituals:
Immersing in a ritual bath after menstruation, after birth, for conversion, or before a sacred occasion

Washing the hands before eating bread

Washing the hands upon returning from a cemetery

Washing the dead before burial

Putting a Cup of Miriam on the Passover seder table

Dipping greens in salt water on Passover

Throwing bread into water to represent sins on Rosh haShanah

Washing the feet of a newborn baby girl or immersing her in water (a modern naming custom)


Jewish Earth Rituals:
Bread and salt or bread and honey on the Sabbath

Blessing wine on the Sabbath (this could also be a water ritual)

Carrying a citron, willow branches, myrtle branches, and a palm branch on Sukkot

Eating fruit on Tu B’Shevat

Decorating the synagogue with flowers on Shavuot

Planting a tree in honor of a child’s birth (cedar for a boy, cypress for a girl)

Burying the foreskin of a circumcised child

Placing earth from the land of Israel in a coffin

Burying damaged sacred texts

Helping to bury a loved one by shoveling earth into the grave

Why Do We Worry?

For decades we have heard, "Turn that frown upside down", and scoffed at the simplicity of such a childish rhyme.  But, once again looking at the Big Picture of Life, is it really meaningless or does it simply convey a message that gives an instant reminder that to worry is to waste our energy.  To worry is to be troubled about something, to be overly concerned, to fret.

Luke 12:25-26 - "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life^[b]? ²⁶ Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?"

While Christ is explaining to his disciples that the power lies in the Father and only through His kingdom can our anxiety be lifted.  Through our lives we encounter challenges of varying magnitudes and each one adds to our knowledge and spiritual bank accounts.  We are able to take that experience and continue to formulate our individual understanding of the safety that is found in God's shelter.  Each of us has our own set of experiences that are unlike anyone elses, so it follows that our own formulation will be unique to just ourselves.

As I catch myself worrying about my husband's health and how we will manage and how I will care for him, I know that the above Bible verse encourages me to let go of the worry and to gain control, even if the control seems just a little shakey.  The freedom to seek the better path has been given to all of us  and like these wild mustangs we will turn from any threats to our shelter.

To worry is to disturb your own peace of mind.  Our calm, our peace of mind, helps us to know our place on the pathway of life and to know the direction we are taking as well as the pace we are maintaining.  I guess this all melds into several philosophies that include so many lines finding that peace.  Does the fact that there may be other ways to find peace mean that God is being denied?  Absolutely not.  God speaks to us in various ways and whether it's through nature, family, music, rest, a loving embrace, solitude, or whatever helps us to find that sense of safety we know that only through His love will these tools succeed.

May we all find the peace that God offers us and may our worries be few and seldom.

The Buzzard, The Bat, and The BumbleBee

THE BUZZARD:

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet but
that is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its
ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is
that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a
run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit,
it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner
for life in a small jail with no top.



THE BAT:

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.


THE BUMBLEBEE
 

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom.. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.


PEOPLE:

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realising that all we have to do is look up!

That's the answer, the escape route and the solution to any problem! Just look up.

Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But faith looks up!
Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us.

Accountablity

Not too long ago, while getting ready to go to church, I was watching Dr. Charles Stanley early on a Sunday morning.  The center of his teaching that day was on the subject of accountability and what that meant to us spiritually and biblically.  Dr. Stanley explained all of the what-fors and where-evers and I found it to be interesting in a conservative Christian sort of way.  I don't believe, however, that he ever explained the fact that the actual word 'accountable' is not in the Bible.

Dr. Stanley explained that every one of us is accountable to someone and ultimately, of course, to God.  He described how children are accountable to their parents and teachers, employees to the supervisors, supervisors to the boss, the boss to the board, and the board to the stockholders, and then the government who in turn is suppose to be accountable to the people and ultimately the people to God.  Husband are accountable to wives and wives to husbands, friends to friends, and so on.

In the Bible, we find that the overall understanding of being accountable for your actions comes under several other words.  Each of the words that has the 'accountable' connotation has a sliver of a difference from the next.  Some of the words used to denote an immediate or eventual accountability are: respect, honor, responsible, atonement, judgement, and others.  These words ultimately lead back to the human-ness of being accountable.

We show respect for ourselves and others, and all that that encompasses, because we know that we are ultimately accountable for our thoughts and actions.  We each choose whether to be respectful in our thoughts and actions, although we can be guilty of a spontaneous word that we regret. 

The word 'honor' is a really big one and one that is harder to grasp for most of us.  It denotes a presence of respect that holds a special noble grace.  We honor our parents by being respectful, but there's so much more to it than just that.  We honor our fallen heroes by showing our gratitude and respect, but, once again, it goes beyond that to something more primitive, more earthy.  When we honor someone or something we set apart from the everyday humdrum and know that there are certain thoughts and actions that we can make that takes away that special respect, we show our accountability.

Not being accountable leads to the atonement and judgement, of being answerable to someone or something.  Even the most remote spot on earth with one single person living there in a hut and surviving off the land is answerable to his surroundings, the flora and fauna, and to God where he is a believer or not. Ultimately, no one can go through their time on earth and not be answerable to something somewhere.

The Lord Is My Shepherd?

Many of us learned Psalm 23, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want" and so on.
This really isn't going to be a discussion on the 23rd Psalm or the Bible, per se, but this will be a discussion of our present state of spiritual shortcomings.  We see statistics that show us that somewhere between 65% and 87% of Americans claim to believe in the one true God; the God of the Holy Bible, the God of Israel, the Judeo-Christian God.

Until roughly 60 years ago, the pastors and rabbis and priests in this country acted as the shepherds of the flock.  People looked to their clergy for answers to everyday problems and concerns and expected to be led or guided along a path that was soul enriching.  The clergy stood before his flock and explained living a Godly life to continue along that path.  He explained expectations, cause and effect, truth or consequences, self responsibility, fairness, honesty.  The pastor let you know sometimes we have to lose and sometimes we have to win in order to understand the grand scheme of humanity; none of us are the same and never will be.

Biblical writings speak of the lost or scattered flocks, flocks going in the wrong direction, flocks searching for a place to belong.  Our nation has lost most of her shepherds to political correctness, social engineering, and outright fear.  If our shepherds were to stand tall and proud and speak boldly with the conviction of their youthful theological studies, would our people be so dependent on welfare, would our youth be lost to drugs & sex, would our entertainment be riddled with lewd crude behavior and would there really be such a thing as a "blended family" (whatever that really is)?

In the 27th Psalm we read, "The Lord is my light and my salvation...".  How can we get our spiritual leaders to go back to serving as our shepherds instead of our touchy-feely counselors.  The shepherds have become fearful of their flock, fearful of the 'Roman rulers', fearful of themselves.  We, the flock, are floundering as a civilization and keep grasping for a reason.  The reason is very, very fundamental; our souls are starving for righteousness.
Righteousness is not a dirty word - definition = in accordance with virtue and morality.
The few clergy that actually speak to morality and virtue are usually labelled as radical or uncompromising or anti-something or another.  But, isn't that what the clergy are suppose to do?  Aren't they suppose to challenge us and help us set our expectations?

When you go to your church or synagogue to worship and study do you go with the hope of sharing your love for God with others and learning God's will for you?  Do you go in order to be seen, feel good about yourself, have your children make the 'right' kind of friends, not have someone rock your boat, or not have someone ask your opinion?  Our family, marital, moral issues have to start in the local church with a strong shepherd to lead the flock in the direction of Godly answers.  We need to know that there IS a right and a wrong and we must find the right path.
Proverbs 3-5:  Trust the Lord with all your heart and don't depend on your own understanding."
Please visit a church or synagogue and please expect a shepherd's guidance.
God Bless us all...

Nature's Inspiration

For thousands of years man has intuitively felt that tug of knowledge of something that far surpasses our own mortality.  Mankind has always been aware of a power far beyond our grasp; of a God that could beckon the clouds and shift the waters, bring forth the fruit and send herds across the hills.  At various times in history man has also questioned the validity of this power, this God.  Man, in his self-absorbed singularity, has taken it upon himself to chastise those seen as weaker and worshiper.  After all, isn't man self-made and self-directed, can't man be his own god?

Is it really possible to sit on a high mountain and gaze at the sky, the birds, the grazing cattle, and not truly know that this is not some naive accident?  It is my opinion that everything is as it is because our God has made it so.  When God gave us the power to make our choices he then turned over the molding of our world to us and in our hands lies the capacity for good or evil, for right or wrong.  Sometimes our choices are self-destructive and nonproductive and the end result is hard to accept. 

As a people, we have an obligation to walk the path set before us thousands of years ago.   If God is absent in our lives it is fundamentally human to seek our salvation and search for our purpose.  Please enjoy the following and contemplate your world, your community, your family.


http://naturesinspirationmovie.com/miami


Nature is God's treat to our senses and our sustainer. 

Vengeance Is Mine

Romans 12:19  "Vengeance Is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

Most of the time we forget that verse and want revenge, and I mean...REVENGE!
Before I retired a couple of new people were hired at the office that had poor work ethics and even lower personal ethics.  Needless to say it was a difficult situation.  The atmosphere around the office deteriorated to one that was not only uncomfortable and disquieting, but was becoming aggressive and surreptitious.  Needless to say, I was looking forward to retiring.  These two people had personal demons, I guess, but were spreading their venom beyond the immediate area.

The following is one of the best examples of how to deal with issues of this nature and I find it to be very uplifting.  I want you to read it and apply it to your life to free your psyche' for enjoyment of the life you have and can build.


Revenge and Vindication
By Alan Douglas

The artist Paul Gauguin said, "Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge." My favorite monument is the tomb of Yue Fei in Hangzhou, China. 12th century General Yue was a national hero, until a lying, bureaucrat named Qin Gui launched a scheme resulting in the general's head getting cut off. After learning the truth about Qin Gui's lies, the people built a temple in Yue Fei's honor.

For 900 years the Chinese have paid homage to Yue Fei, but they haven't forgotten the villain, Qin Gui either. Statutes of the evil Qin Gui and his wife, on their knees, face Yue Fei's tomb, begging for his forgiveness. Visitors to the temple pay their respects to the good Yue Fei, and then turn to curse the evil Qin Gui and his wife and then spit on their statutes. You have to be in awe of that much revenge over so many centuries. It will be hard for you to match it.

When I become angry and resentful, my wife asks, "How long are you going to keep pouting?" "Three hours and seventeen minutes" would be a normal response from me. My wife will then place it in perspective by replying, "Come on, that's only worth an hour and forty two minutes". When hurt by injustice; it is best for each of us to appraise what the hurt is worth. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin in "The Book of Jewish Values" quotes the recovering alcoholic's warning that, "Carrying resentments, is like letting someone whom you don't like, live inside your head rent free." Barry Diller was fired as head of Paramount movie studios, so he reacted by mounting an effort to win control of the studio, and he failed. When a reporter asked Diller, "What happened?" Diller replied, "They won. We lost. Next." To win in life, you can lick your wounds, you can find some form of closure, but you must move on. In the movie Stalag 17, the lead character, who was unjustly mistreated by his fellow American POWs, pauses just before he escapes the German prison camp and says, ""One more word�. If I ever run into any of you bums on a street corner, just let's pretend we never met before. Understand?" The heck with forgiveness, pouting or revenge, future happiness and success are real vindication. Allow me to demonstrate with a personal example.

My wife and I were enjoying dinner at Captain George's Seafood Restaurant. It is the kind of place you go for your sister's birthday. There is always a festive atmosphere at Captain George's since most of your fellow diners are celebrating a birthday, anniversary or special night out. A young couple sat at a large table, that could accommodate another eight people, awaiting the rest of their party. Their age and spiffy formal clothes made it clear they were headed to the Senior Prom. As time passed everyone in the restaurant couldn't help but notice that the teenage couple was still alone. The waitress whispered the story to us.

The girl's boyfriend broke up with her that morning and the boy with her now was her friend, filling in so she wouldn't miss the prom. One of her friends invited her to join a group having dinner at Captain George's but her "friend" was playing a joke on her by giving her by sending her to the wrong restaurant. The waitress retold the story in hushed tones to all the adjoining tables. It was embarrassing for the teenagers, and sad for the rest of us. The young couple faced the reality that they had been stood up and the target of a joke. They ordered their dinner and ate in silence.

Humiliation and rejection is a fire that burns for decades. After twenty-three failed attempts at getting a date in high school I learned that persistence isn't always a virtue. When invited to my high school reunions I think of the prison camp in Stalag 17. My high school yearbook reminds me how much better life is since high school.

As the waitress cleared our dirty plates I asked her to discretely bring us the tab for the young couple's dinner so we could pay it anonymously. Later, when the waitress informed the young couple that their check was already paid, the look of astonishment on their faces was genuine. It was like winning the lottery. They left the restaurant laughing and congratulating themselves on their good luck. The cruel teenagers had placed them in a humiliating situation. But it was also an opportunity. A mysterious stranger could develop superpowers and use his credit card to save the day. Those kids didn't just get a free fancy meal, they got a great story.

I took a moment to congratulate myself. When those kids arrived at the prom, I knew the jerks who set them up would snicker and ask "So how was dinner?" or "Have a good time at Captain George's?" But their targets would respond, "You won't believe what happened… " and tell how they were the guests of a mysterious windfall. This "practical joke" would live on as a fond memory for their intended victims. The teenage couple would spread word of their triumph at the prom. Fashions change, but the bullies who taunted me years ago are still around, and are just as popular, in today's high schools. This time my team had won.

As we were leaving Captain George's an older man and woman stopped us. "We heard what you did for that young couple and we just wanted to let you know we thought it was a really nice thing to do." I mumbled "Thank you" and my wife began to cry. They say living well is the best revenge.

Leap of Faith

Today's civilization tends to be very fact-based.  Around the planet there is a plethora (I love that word!) of geologists, archeologists, biologists, philosophers, socialogists, etc., all trying to prove or disprove something.  It has almost become a game or a race to seek a chard of evidence that will prove the 'either - or' of a question.

The choice of the title Leap of Faith was made because we humans are following a track of negativism if we believe that absolutely everything mentionable has to have an absolute.  Have we lost our innocence and wonder to the point of 'monotone'.  When the wonder of it all has turned to absolutes then we lose the color of our surroundings, thus 'monotone'.  Expression disappears, hope no longer springs eternal, wishes upon a star will cease, and someday your prince will never come.  Wow!  That IS monotone.  There was a movie out a few years ago about a monotone town that started getting color as people experienced new things.  I didn't see the movie and can't recall it's name, but I remember the previews vividly.

Astronaut Gordon Cooper wrote a book in 2000 titled Leap of Faith, about the beginnings of the space program and the first few trips into space.  Just think what those young astronauts in the early days of NASA must have felt when those rocket thrusters ignited.  Now that is multicolor!

This is a leap of faith that most of us would never undertake!  God asks us to do this and we usually don't answer that request.  I often watch a TV show on the History International channel entitled The Naked Archeologist.  He is a Canadian of Romanian birth and is Jewish and I'm afraid his name escapes me.  He takes us all across the Holy Land in search of examples and even proof to back up biblical stories.  He has shown the only existing archeological physical proof that proves there were crucifixions during the time of Jesus.  Other things are proven, unproven, suggested, etc.  If something can not be proven to be true does that prove it is not true?  If, say, Joe Schmo believes a story that is spread through a hypothesis written by a marginal scholar, does that make him wrong or innovative?  Do we only believe what our 'church' tells us is true or do we seek some answers on our own, risking ridicule if we voice that thought? 

Does each of us subconsciously decide our beliefs based on facts or a mix of facts and faith?  Is our main challenge to take everything on faith or to reason parts of stories to fit a mold or to seek answers where few exist?  Maybe it's a combination of all three but, for almost everyone, the percentages of the combination change.  For instance, regardless of the religious denomination, every priest/pastor/rabbi will have a slightly different explanation on most messages of the Bible. 

We often hear the term, A Person's Belief System, and think nothing about it.  But think on that a moment and it's phenomenal to realize that each one of us has our own way of cataloging our thoughts into a method of deciding what we believe.  Give ten people the same facts, percentages, statistics and you will get 10 differing ideas and conclusions.  We are amazing aren't we?  We must stay multicolor and take those leaps of faith even when the leap is tiny...

Easter Week, Israel and Wesley Pruden

This is the absolute perfect time to think about the Christian's responsibility to be good stewards of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel as a whole.  God's people allowed the gentiles to enter the brotherhood that is Israel, the nation that is Israel.  In today's world the country of Israel was given it's domain by the United Nations back in the late 40's, but, the nation of Israel was deemed so by God.

Please click on the link below and read where our leaders have put us and think about where we should be...
Wesley Pruden

I pray that the Americans that love God and know to read and live His words, can understand that evil forces are at work aganst Israel in this drama. 

Center of Your Life

A few weeks ago I heard a pastor say that "the center of your life is what you think about most".  Now, that is a truly profound statement when you look at it from several points.  Things pop into our heads that many times will lead to another topic. 

If someone thinks about money more than anything else does that mean that person is selfish and greedy, or does it mean that person is ambitious and determined.  Obviously, we can't only go by the one or two word topic.  It would have to go beyond that, it would have to point to some of the options that coincide with the topic.  Does the person then drift to hoarding money or spending it on frivolous things to 'one-up' someone they envy?  Or, does the person then drift to investing or saving or paying down a huge bill so their future is more secure? 

What do you think about the most; money, travel, health, food, etc.?  I've tried to pinpoint what I think about the most and several things come to mind but I can't say any particular one.  Is that because I don't want to face the fact?  Would most of us have a problem with narrowing down the list to only one item or would most us waffle between 2 or 3? 

I think the biggest decision in this quest is where does your thought take you, where do you eventually end up and then what would you label that topic.  I find that I think about my cancer more than any other one thing.  However, that thought-path almost always takes me to the ultimate point of it all.  The One.  Yahweh.
My journey always leads me to many reminders:  My personal bible verse is Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  This single verse is my mantra and I share it with others so that they will also know that His love is a safe haven whenever a personal battle strikes. 
Another reminder that comes along in my thought-path is how profoundly moved I am when I hear music that speaks to me.  I love just about everything that Lynda Randall sings, that George Gershwinn or Cole Porter wrote, that the Gaithers perform, or when most patriotic songs are played.  This music literally chokes me up and has been known to bring tears to my eyes.  It's rather nice to know that my shell can be cracked with a song.  Music does speak to the heart and soul of man, but only if we let it.

Inner strength comes from the Creator, our acceptance of Him and His grace and mercy.  I have a brown paper bag hanging on my upper cabinet door that has been there for several years and was given to me by a friend.  On it is a large label that says, simply, "God Bag".  People usually will ask about it and then I get a chance to explain that all our praises and applause belong to Him and our fears and worries and concerns belong to Him also.  One of my dear friends is battling cancer and one of my cousins was recently diagnosed with cancer and I thank God that both of them are good and faithful servants for I know that He will be with them through their journey. 

So, as your mind wanders here and there during the day, try to pay attention to where it takes you, what port does it settle into for a while.  You will find out a lot about yourself, some good and some not so good, but finding out is important.  That's the ultimate pondering...