Shalom and Peace:
We will continue to look in depth at some of the many verses held in common by Judaism and Christianity, and at the same time, understand their Jewish Rabbinical roots.
Matthew 6:25-31, 34 reads: ''Do not worry about where your food will come from tomorrow, or your drink… Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. ''
500 years before in the Oral Tradition of the Talmud it was taught:'' Whoever has a piece of bread in his basket and says. 'What shall I eat tomorrow?' belongs only to them who are little in faith (Sotah 48b)'' and ''Each day has enough of its own troubles (Beracoth 9b).''
The concept of living One Day at a Time, without regret for the past and anxiety for the future is not just a 12 step concept. It's a Judaic one. When we worry about tomorrow, and have sadness over yesterday, we cannot enjoy the gift of the present.
Psychologists say that the average person has 60,000 thoughts per day and 80% are negative! We obsess over things that are out of our control. We need to think positively by seeing God's abundance, and blessing Him. The love of God, leads us to the love of our fellows, which sustains us in joyousness.
Things will not make us happy. Contentment comes from inside and never from outside. Serenity is calm in the heart without any sense of wound. "Who is truly rich? The one who rejoices with what he has." (Pirkei Avot 4:1). We find happiness and joy by understanding our purpose in this world, to love God and His children, and to do mitzvoth for them, and to "serve God with happiness" (Psalms 100:2).
"Shalom is the only pipeline through which blessing comes down to earth from Heaven." (Midrash). Worry, fear and resentments keep us from true Shalom. Never lose sight of the fact that God created all of us to be happy, joyous and free. He wants us to live in Shalom. We have the power to "get back to the Garden" every day of our lives, if only we choose to do so. ''This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Ps. 118:24).''
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Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spirituality
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