I know, I know, these are the two things that are not easy to talk about and in today’s climate literally divides people. Everything in my life is about balance and diversity, and I wish that would apply to Politics and Religion as well. I have seen some amazing thoughts that I agree with and wanted to share.
Now I am going to sign of the world for 24 hours, because it is what I believe in and what works for me.
Shabbat Shalom,
Coach Yulia
The GOP has neo-Nazis running and winning elections. The Democratic party has socialists and ideologues taking office. I think it’s time for a third party again.
Please allow me to make light of religion some more. Judaism introduced to the world the concept of One God. Before Jews, people had many gods, seen, palpable. Today, as in Japan, many still believe in many gods. The problem is if there is only one true God, then who defines that God? Jews have Hashem. Muslims have Allah. Christian’s have the Trinity. These are very different gods… As a Jew, if I get to define God, then I’m negating the beliefs of the rest of the rest of the world, and so on.. My actual belief is that there is only One True God but we are all wrong. We are limited, with tiny brains, trying to define an infinite, intangible force. We all have a little part of the truth but it’s so little that we are all wrong. I also believe that each religion is a language to try to understand God- a desperate form of communication. And I also believe that the only way to come to “know” God is through indirect experience, by loving His or Her nature and His and Her people, by loving many things and many people, and through meditation, through sitting in nature quietly. The moment we speak, we stop experiencing God. Hence the psalmist says: “Be still and know that I’m God.” And then, in the end we realize that the worship of nature the way Shintos do is a great path to God. And as Heschel said, wonder and awe are the beginning of enlightenment. Each people has something to teach us. Ours is not the only way and a True God has NO religion!
