More than Thanksgiving

There is so much that I want to say but when I start to put it to paper it all seems so limited! It seems so nasal! It seems to be empty of emotion and devoid of meaning when I read it from the page…but if you could be here right now you would be able to witness the array of emotions I am experiencing as I try deep within me to say more than “Thank you”!

This is the week when most people in this country, focus on Thanksgiving… when we give Thanks to YHVH for all the blessings He has bestowed on us. Hold on; read that last sentence again….when we give thanks to YHVH for all the blessings He has bestowed on us. What a misguided statement that is. Can you see now why I am having difficulties writing a simple little blog to say thank you to all of you for your prayers and concerns during the past few weeks. Please don’t stop…prayers work.

But back to the “Hold on….” Statement. This time of the year most people focus on giving thanks to the Father for all the blessings…we should be giving thanks to Him daily. Setting aside one day a year for family and friends to get together to give thanks really insults the One doing the blessing! Our Father deserves more. He is the One giving the Blessings! Nothing comes from us or from any man. On top of that, pausing one day out of the year to thank family and friends for all they do and their constant love and devotion is also insulting. Let us thank everyone everyday for everything and remind one another that YHVH T’Zvaot makes it all possible. 

 

By now you all probably know about the situation I am having with my foot and legs. These past few weeks have been very testing. This testing has sparked a part of me that I thought existed but was not aware of the full extent of it. Until we have been subjected to the test, we don’t know if we have the correct answer. While the test is being administered, the teacher is not speaking. The speaking has been done. It is time to now check within ourselves if we have the answer the teacher is looking for. Our Heavenly Father is a fantastic teacher. He is guiding me daily and I praise Him for guiding me. This little trip is different than all others I have been on. I know where I want to go but a map is not available…and the Teacher is not giving me more than what I need at any given moment. I am dependent upon The Great GPS (God’s Positioning System – Torah!) to guide me. 

[as an aside: a friend was speaking with me the other day about my physical situation. She began to tell me of an incident she had when her son was a teenager. He tore the Achilles tendon from the bone in a sports incident…during the recovery process her son told her one night that he didn’t know how much more recovery time he can manage…the pain was tremendous…the Mom asked him if he had been praying…his response was of course I have been praying….she then asked if he prayed recently for tolerance…and his answer was yes. She then told him that his prayers were being answered….he stared at her with a lost look….she reminded him that YHVH is the great teacher and uses all opportunities to teach us…and by teaching us, He answers prayers. She also reminded him to use caution in what he prays for…YHVH does not send an advance copy of the lesson plan……] 

Anyhow, I am learning a lot from all this and have surprised myself at how accepting I am of it all. The humbling part for me is the massive response Yocheved and I have received from all of you. Our Mishp’kha is truly hand picked by YHVH. There is nothing more shocking than going from a hundred miles an hour with nothing but “youth” in your sails to coming to an almost complete stop and the wind run out. I was so concerned with who is going to keep things in order and how will they know this and know that? I was told by several in the Congregation to sit down, shut up and get well. What an awesome undertaking. Things are being taken care of that I even forgot about. Then we realized that this all happened within the week of Sukkot and there was no forewarning. .. like a light switch flipped…from fully functional and no history of poor or degraded health to a full stop…the legs just stopped working! (I won’t go into that again..) Suffice it to say, the Shul will run just fine whether I am there or not…. I do miss being there but I rest a bit easier knowing that we serve the Father, not man, and this ensures that the Father’s Word continues to go forward. Please forgive me one and all for even having a fleeting thought that it would be otherwise. So easy to fall back on old attitudes, values and beliefs. 

 

I love you one and all, thank you for caring and know that our Father is smiling and preparing another lesson plan. Be ready!

Shalom, shalom

Pinchas a/k/a Frankly Speaking all the time

Taking Things for Granted

These past few weeks have been real eye opening for me.  As most of you know we had a fantastic Sukkot and the in-gathering was phenomenal.  As I wrote last time, seeing the outreach taking place with all the people coming to assist one another and enjoin in conversations with open minds and willing hearts was truly the work of our Heavenly Father.

A couple of weeks have now passed and we are attempting to get “back to normal” while moving forward toward the River’s in the Desert Conference.  While at the same time I am nursing an injury to my foot while waiting for a surgical procedure to clean out my arteries.  This last part baffles me.  Not to beat a dead horse, but as succinctly as I can put it, I am about to have a procedure done to both lower legs to open the arteries because I have extremely minimal blood flow.  Rule out diabetes, cholesterol, plaque build up, heart disease, smoking, etc.  Does not exist!  And until I had my foot injured, had no reason to have my arteries cleaned out!  Have I been taking myself for granted all these years?  Have I become a victim to my own blindness?  The medical people told me they had the answers;  they ran all the tests, they now say they are stumped..but we will get to the bottom of this!  I hope so.  I am very much aware that miracles do take place and healing comes without any intervention from us as long as we have faith.  But what about doing all the right things and living the correct ways and observing Torah and being healthy and keeping healthy thoughts, etc.  How can it be that someone could truly end up the healthiest man in the grave yard?

None of this bothered me until about an hour ago.  My biggest complaint was that my great toe hurt.  I was not concerned with the rotor rooter going into my legs tomorrow morning and bringing blood flow back.  But it just dawned on me!  Why did the blood flow stop?  No one knows, as yet!.  And when it is corrected, do we just accept it as something that happened along the way, while searching to see His Face?  There is a part of me that strives very hard to not complain and accept what the Father blesses me with.  I also believe there is a blessing in everything and therefore we should not complain about anything; ie. The injury to the toe/foot led the way to finding reduced blood flow and the need for corrective measures; so I don’t want to be ungrateful for the injury.

This event in my life has brought the Spiritual aspects of my faith into the physical aspects of my being.  Probably won’t make a bit of sense, but just for the sake of going along for the ride, go along with me a bit and see if you don’t find that I am the one who may be experiencing the physical component, but we all are or have or will be experiencing the spiritual component whether we want to or not.  

YHVH has a fantastic way of teaching us.  There were many times in my life when I questioned whether or not I had enough faith to follow without having enough good reason to follow.  Many times along the way I asked myself if “this” (He, YHVH,) was real.  I know about the miracles of the oak tree and etc., but accepting something just because it is, can be quite a challenge. One of the difficult things to do is explain how we can believe in something we cannot see.  We can see the supposed results of the Divine intervention, but we are not capable as yet, to see the Divine.  Thanks to the ever so many miracles that have occurred in my life, I am able to say that I have faith in a supreme being that I believe created me.  I believe He did know me before I was conceived.  I believe in the miracle of birth, which isn’t hard to believe in when you see how many in the “count” that did not make it.  These are easy things to have faith and belief in.  The more difficult things are the interventions that occur in our lives that had we not been believers, would have been written off as something that just happened, for no rhyme or reason.

With a great startle I woke from a “dozing” sleep a while ago and realized, my foot was injured to get my attention to take a look at my life flow (Life is in the Blood) and do something about it.  In other words, YHVH woke me up to assure me that He is nearby and looking out for me… and to ensure that I pay constant attention to Him and never turn away.  He is in charge, and I am grateful.  So, when I tell others that I have no fear for tomorrow, I can now rest assured that I am being honest.  My Father has told me so.  Jeremiah 8:8-9;  John 7: 17-18

Shalom shalom; 

Thank you one and all for your prayers and concerns; I love you all.   

Pinchas a/k/a Frankly Speaking All theTime