The
Bible opens with two polar opposite stories about the creation of humans – but I could not see that for a very long
time. I had been taught to read my Bible from an “authority first” perspective. “Authority
first” is a very “religious” way
of reading the Bible and in my religion it meant – submit, comply, obey and don’t question authority! For us, God
was the highest authority of all and the leaders of our religion were
God’s authorized agents, therefore “good
Christians” were supposed to submit, comply,
obey and not question God’s authorized agents either!!! Continue reading at
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One of Jesus’s earliest memories was no doubt watching and listening to his family when they gathered to pray the Shema at sunrise before the day’s work began and after the working work day was over at sunset . He also heard and participated in praying the Shema at their synagogue. He was surrounded by neighbors who also prayed the same prayer in their homes every day. The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah . It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning “ to judge oneself .” This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. [1] Most of Jewish prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me," an...
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