Tuesday, March 21, 2006

A healthy dose of fear

I had to drive home last night at 2 a.m. under the rain and lots of lightning.. At one point I was almost blinded by a flash, and my radio station went out of commission for the rest of the way. It was awesome and terrifying all at the same time.. I kept reminding myself to trust in G-d who created the lightning, and yet I was undoubtedly afraid.. and it got me thinking... how can I fear lightning more than I fear the G-d who created it? Even that sudden flash was enough to stress me out, so how come I pay no heed to the fear of G-d? I was reminded that he is in control of even the lightning, but as the flashes got really close to me a number of times, and everything above and around me went white for an instant, all I could think was "It's going to strike me... Abba, don't let it strike me".. I could feel the heat that the flashes left behind in my car, and then of course, my radio stopped working for a while...
I started thinking of Moses entering the cloud at the top of the mountain, and of the Israelites anguish when they heard the voice of G-d roar, and they told Moses, "Don't have G-d talk to us... Let him talk to you, and then you come and talk to us, for we will die if we keep hearing his voice.." And driving home last night, I tasted a bit of how they felt... We read that G-d's voice is like thunder, that he flashes like lightning, and we think it's so cute, but the reality is that it's terrifying when you're up close, especially when you think you're at risk of being zapped to death... and all you want to do is make it safely out of the storm...

The fear of the L-rd is indeed the beginning of wisdom.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

stripped away

In the deserts of our lives – the parched, arid places, with their mountainous, rugged, and rocky terrain – it is not so much our independence, our ability to carve out of the rocks our daily bread, that sets us apart. It is our willingness to, in the midst of the desert’s despair, depend singlemindedly on the One who sends manna from heaven and gives water from the rock, reminding us, again, that man does not live by bread alone, but by the very words that proceed from the mouth of Adonai Elohim T’seva’ot.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

The beauty of culture

My dad sent me this link today on photos of a traditional Nigerian Igbo wedding, and I thought I'd share. The groom is the son of my dad's roommate from Cornell University years ago. The pictures took me home again so vividly and so beautifully. Just in case clicking on the title does not work, here's the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4717608.stm

Enjoy!