What a mess! Israel tries to do the right thing in a prisoner exchange, hoping to get back live soldiers, and ends up getting back 2 dead bodies on the day we celebrate one of the Chabad Rebbes (what is the plural for this word?) getting released from jail. What a bittersweet moment that must have been. Especially to find that one of the prisoners exchanged is a cold blooded murderer of children even in this horrible conflict.
I wish I could say something comforting about this situation, but there isn't anything comforting to say. This is a terrible tragedy for the families of these soldiers, for the state of Israel as a whole, and for the world wide community of my people everywhere. We can all feel these events in our bones. What happens to one member of the body is felt elsewhere in the body, this is true of us as a people as well.
My tribute to these soldiers is to include some videos that I hope you will watch, and I hope will bring some healing. I am sure that this battle isn't over, nor is the war.
You'll have to look for the English version of this last song, I couldn't find it this morning, but I have previous found it. Ani Yachol means "I can" and the lyrics to this song are really fitting for a soldier, it talks about being able to do all kinds of things. I hope you enjoy the videos, and never forget.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Atonement
Wow, has it really been almost a month since my last post? It feels like it was just yesterday. Anyway, this is a personal post because I am frustrated about a lot of things in my personal life right now and I don't want to spend time thinking about other things.
A fundamental concept in religion is atonement, although I think the Jews do this best. Christians tend to say that atonement isn't relevant because Jesus died for their sins. Jews at least work for this, and I'm not quite sure what the Muslim perspective is on the topic, or that of any other religion for that matter. What I can tell you is that this seems to be a concept that is misunderstood.
The concept requires a recognition of a mistake made, followed by an idea of how to make it right and a request that the other person both forgive and also accept the gesture. This requires a lot of effort both for the atonee and the atoner, and yes atonee is a new word I just made up. The process of atonement needs to start with the person that made the mistake in the first place though, and people need to respect each other during the process.
I am finding myself frustrated by a lack of atonement in my life. I have been painted with the Lilith brush and expected to own the mistakes of others and atone for the mistakes of others, but others don't seem to understand the impact that they have on my life. In fact they don't even see my life all they see is their own reality. I find this to be a very sad process within my life. It is death affirming, whereas atonement can be life affirming and is life affirming, to withhold it and then blame the person who has been wronged seems to me a huge mistake and very death gripping.
I prefer to be surrounded by life affirming influences and so I have decided to sever all ties with the death crew. This is also a death affirming decision on some level, although over all it is life affirming.
So, I have decided as my "atonement" for all the wrongs that have been committed against me, but supposedly are my fault that I'd like to start my own company. Now I am just trying to figure out how to make that work and what kind of company I'd like to create, for example product or service and industry etc.
A fundamental concept in religion is atonement, although I think the Jews do this best. Christians tend to say that atonement isn't relevant because Jesus died for their sins. Jews at least work for this, and I'm not quite sure what the Muslim perspective is on the topic, or that of any other religion for that matter. What I can tell you is that this seems to be a concept that is misunderstood.
The concept requires a recognition of a mistake made, followed by an idea of how to make it right and a request that the other person both forgive and also accept the gesture. This requires a lot of effort both for the atonee and the atoner, and yes atonee is a new word I just made up. The process of atonement needs to start with the person that made the mistake in the first place though, and people need to respect each other during the process.
I am finding myself frustrated by a lack of atonement in my life. I have been painted with the Lilith brush and expected to own the mistakes of others and atone for the mistakes of others, but others don't seem to understand the impact that they have on my life. In fact they don't even see my life all they see is their own reality. I find this to be a very sad process within my life. It is death affirming, whereas atonement can be life affirming and is life affirming, to withhold it and then blame the person who has been wronged seems to me a huge mistake and very death gripping.
I prefer to be surrounded by life affirming influences and so I have decided to sever all ties with the death crew. This is also a death affirming decision on some level, although over all it is life affirming.
So, I have decided as my "atonement" for all the wrongs that have been committed against me, but supposedly are my fault that I'd like to start my own company. Now I am just trying to figure out how to make that work and what kind of company I'd like to create, for example product or service and industry etc.
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