Gail's great spiritbuilder on Eikev

To red all her stuff
go to www.spiritandjudaism.org



Spirit Builder for August 3, 2007
Deuteronomy 8:2-10 (Excerpt)
'Remember the entire path along which God your Lord led you these forty
years in
the desert. He sent hardships to test you, to determine what is in your
heart,
whether you would keep His commandments or not. He made life difficult
for you,
letting you go hungry, and then He fed you the Manna, which neither you
nor your
ancestors had ever experienced. This was to teach you that it is not by
bread
alone that man lives, but by all that comes out of God's mouth. The
clothing you
wore did not become tattered, and your feet did not become bruised
these forty
years. You must thus meditate on the fact that just as a man might
chastise his
child, so God your Lord is chastising you. Safeguard the commandments
of God your
Lord, so that you will walk in His ways and remain in awe of Him. God
your Lord
is bringing you to a good land - a land with flowing streams, and
underground
springs gushing out in valley and mountain. It is a land of wheat,
barley,
grapes, figs and pomegranates - a land of oil-olives and honey. When
you eat and
are satisfied, you must therefore bless God your Lord for the good land
that He
has given you.'

Read through these verses from this week's Torah reading and insert
yourself into
the story. Imagine this passage is about your life. Change it into
first person,
'I remember the entire path along which God my Lord led me these
(insert your
age) years. God sent hardships to test me, to determine what is in my
heart,
whether I would keep his commandments or not. God made life difficult
for me' . .
. (recall and insert here various difficulties you have encountered in
your
life). 'This was to teach me that it is not by bread alone that I live,
but by
all that comes out of God's mouth. Just as a parent might chastise his
or her
child, so God my Lord is chastising me . . . God my Lord is bringing me
to a good
land' . . . (envision and insert here all that would make you feel
satisfied,
peaceful and loved). 'When I eat and am satisfied, I must therefore
bless God my
Lord for all the good that God has given me.'

I just saw on the NBC Today Show a family I knew well when I was a
pastor in
Minnesota. Sherry Engrebretsen, my former parishioner, was among those
who died
in the bridge collapse. (Which was, by the way, only a few blocks from
my son's
apartment.) Ron, Sherry's husband talked lovingly of his late wife,
emphasizing
her faith in God, and his faith that she was now safe with God. How do
we
understand such an event?

The wisdom of this passage, breathtaking in its scope and depth, can
help us.
Let's begin with the stunning notion that the hardships of life, which
we all
experience to a greater or lesser degree, are from the hand of God.
Take for
example a health crisis. In the midst of sudden ill health, the thought
occurs to
everyone sooner or later—why me? What did I do to deserve this? This
question
'what did I do to deserve this?' frames the issue of illness as
punishment for a
misdeed, and essentially proclaims your innocence, basically saying, 'I
did
nothing to deserve this.' That statement could even be seen as implying
that it
should have happened to someone who deserved it more that you do. If
you actually
ask the 'why me?" question of a friend or relative, they would be quick
to assure
you that it's not your fault, these kind of terrible things just
happen. This
response casts us into a cold and uninvolved universe characterized by
random
events which may befall us out of nowhere for no reason.

The reading from Deuteronomy frames hardship in a completely different
context.
Here we have a universe ruled by the one God. This a not a God who
stands far
off, but is a God who is aware of everything that happens to an
individual and is
intimately involved in what comes to pass. Not only that, God is
compared to a
parent who chastises. In my book of parenting, a parent who
appropriately and
lovingly chastises their child is a good parent. Children need to know
what is
right and wrong, and they need to know that there are consequences when
they make
errors. The idea of bailing your children out when they get in trouble
is a
recipe for an adult with issues. Here God, our good parent, tests and
teaches us
by through what we might call "controlled difficulty".

Do I think that God causes bridges to collapse? No, I don't. But I do
believe
with all my heart that throughout the trials of life God is there, with
an
invisible hand, apparent only to the eyes of faith, providing,
challenging,
guiding, and comforting. We are led through the dark places to a good
land,
abundant beyond our wildest dreams.

God, in all days and times, give us the faith to perceive your amazing
love!

Shabbat Shalom!

***