Idol or G-d: Is truth discernible?

One man's God is the next man's idol! How profound. Just say that and put the next evangelist that tries to save you in a pickle. It reminds me of a comical skit from The State. Old fashioned man proclaims [license taken], “I believe in the one true G-d,” dramatic pause “And his name is Zoro and he is living in that lake,” which is followed by the old fashioned man humorously whistling at the end of the short clip.

watch the skit here:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpiw-ng5wkQ

I have never heard apologetics from any religion that address this maddening issue, which is that once we establish that there is a G-d, we fall flat on our faces in details, not minor details, but MAJOR DETAILS!, such as what the name of G-d is, but the where, the when, the why, and the how, so I will tell it: The details are up to Gd Himself, not me. However, I have a function too. As a faithful follower of Hashem, my role is to be as His instrument in order that His will may be done. He doesn’t need me to be His instrument, but through His unfathomable ways he has chosen to work through humankind.

Want to know how I came to faith? When I was an atheist at Rutgers, G-d spoke to me and instantaneously I believed. G-d said, "I AM punishing you." There was nothing not to believe about that Voice, and it caused me great joy because I never knew Gd could be capable of retribution, and not only that but that He also cared enough about me enough to speak with me. In my opinion, Hashem chose to speak to me when I was at my lowest because I felt like I had nothing to lose. I would try anything. Had he spoken to me in less dire circumstances, I may have brushed it off without changing. That is how I feel about folks when I tell them about G-d and they roll their eyes or deny that He has spoken with me. Like me in the good times, I expect that they wouldn’t change a thing.

On My Experience: Hearing the Voice of G-d

Exodus 20:19. "...Moses would speak and God would answer him with a voice." I literally heard the amazingly resonant voice of the Lord G-d say, "I AM punishing you," meaning me in particular, ~2,000 CE.

My response was similar to that of David in Psalm 22:2 "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?..." but I asked it in a different way. I said, "Why are you punishing me?" to the Almighty G-d.

Why was I so audacious before the Lord? Because I was as low as a worm! I couldn't remember to eat and bathe. If I was any lower, I would have been dead.

When the Lord spoke to me it was unlike anything I had ever heard before. Upon hearing the speech of the Lord, I instantaneously changed from atheist to believer. I oriented my entire life to give praise to G-d.

To seek out G-d, I transferred from Rutgers to Gordon College, a Protestant school, but I found myself trying to hide my actual beliefs, which are not Christian, but what Judaism teaches.

Should Pain and Suffering Be Stumbling Blocks for the Faithful?

While suffering exists in this age, we must believe Gd is omnipotent.  Why then does Gd allow horrid things if He can stop any disease like magic?

To allow disease is not a sign of Gd’s impotence, even if it is a condition that is chronic and/or causing excruciating pain.  Just as a rich man may lose everything in seconds, so to can any creature suffer disease.  Similarly, as any man may gain a fortune in seconds, so to can we receive speedy recovery from any and every chronic disease. 

Hashem desires for us to do His will; that we wrestle to understand His ways. He longs for us to choose Him through hearkening to His call. He desires for us to love Him, all of us, from the most pious king to the lowliest worm, but only of our own accord. While we don’t know why some may suffer; we know justice must prevail, either divine reward or divine punishment, according to our deeds. We can’t have faith and believe in the possibility of the incurable. Maimonides taught that to deny Moshiach’s coming, and subsequently the arrival of a world without suffering, is equivalent to denial of Torah in its entirety. Thus, we are able to derive that in the age of Moshiach, pain and suffering will cease because of our own doing, as then we will be completely occupied with our relationship with G-d; that is when G-d gets His way, and if we love G-d, then His way is our ideal.

Rather, than stumbling blocks, the existence of pain and suffering should be motivators for us to help Gd achieve His ultimate goal; peace on earth.

The Journey to Eden

Following our seemingly endless slavery in Egypt, on the way to a homeland I call Eden; we encountered a sea of hope, and faith.  The end was almost in sight, but we were unsure of ourselves.  We said, “What if Hashem abandons us?  What if this is all a fluke?”  We had seen miracles, but we had also experienced great horrors.  Indeed, we were scared.

We didn’t yet know if we could trust in Gd, and to this day some of us still question such things saying, “How can a loving and powerful Gd allow something such as the Holocaust?”

We need to dream or Gd can never part the sea for us.

We need Hashem, because nothing short of a miracle is what we should expect when we have the Author of the cosmos on our side.

Faith in Hashem's Providence

I am really liking Pandora. Today is my first day trying it because we now have internet. This stuff is so inspirational for me to practice while it is playing in the background. It has occurred to me that all this guitar practice may one day lead to a paying job. However, if I have one student who is successful, - even if it is learning only patterns that help with memory, not necessarily a gig - and has no money, I would take that over several students that were not serious, but padded my bank account. Gd is not money. Work with what you have, money or not, and I have a firm belief that anything is possible with faith.