Trusting G-d: Better than our "go-to" friend

How are all my LadyMama's doing?

It's been a bit quiet on my blog, as our family has been dealing with a young loved one who is very sick (please have Shneur Chaim Yitzchak Alexander ben Nechama Dina in your prayers!). It's been a week of hospital visits and prayers and even something called an "amen gathering." But most of all, my mind has just been consumed with heavy and deep thoughts about life (what's all the suffering for?), G-d (is he listening?), prayer (does it work?) and the list goes on. Normally, I would blog about it, but I haven't been sleeping so well and been with the two little ones during the day. Exhaustion is not the word. 

How grateful I am that the following piece came to my inbox, via an anonymous writer who refuses to shed her disguise. What an important reminder, especially during The Nine Days, to reinstate G-d as our trusted and dependable "go-to." 

Thank you, anonymous, for a down-to-earth post that came to me at the time I needed it most. 

                                                                                      

TRUSTING G-D: Better than our "go-to" friend

Do you have a person that you can always count on?

Your mom? Dad? Brother? Sister? Best friend? 

Mentor? Aunt? The one you call when you need a babysitter now? 

The one you call...when you miss your flight and the next flight’s asking price is more than 3 digits? When your boss yells at you and you feel unappreciated and underpaid? When your car breaks down in middle of the highway and you don't know how to change your tire let alone jump a car? When your lost and your GPS is telling you to go on a one way street—the wrong way of one way street?

When you finally do reach this person, and this trusted being is on the case, your heart settles.

You're breathing in and out again. Your jaw slackens, your fists uncoil, and your eyes stop having that slight crazed look. You are safe. You are relaxed. You're at peace.

Why? Because your “go-to” loves you and wants the best for you. 

You know that. And so you are okay.

I am not Miss Punctual, nor am I Miss Tardy. I sometimes say no when I can't do things, and I try to say yes when I can. So I doubt I am anyone's count-on.

But I do have some people in my life who I feel this way about. I trust them 99.9%. I am realistic, nothing is a perfect 100%.

Oh, but there is...

There's G-d. 

That person you trust? Well, they've got nothing on Hashem. Nothing. 

Can you imagine? G-d's more reliable than your “go-to.” That really responsible, educated yet street smart, uptight and sometimes neurotic, do gooder. That  happy martyr that might be your mom, friend, sister, uncle or even boss. Whoever, whenever. G-d tops them because not only did He create your “go to," He created mine. And my “go to” is good. Very good.

My father once told me, "Love people, trust Hashem."

Can you imagine trusting the Creator with every breath you take?

Thinking that makes me breathe slower already. Not only is He going to come through one hundred percent, but nothing will stop Him. Not a snow storm or hurricane, or a delayed flight. G-d does not sleep. G-d is constantly watching and making sure that what happens…is meant to be. And is good.

So think about it. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Imagine a life where G-d is your trusted best friend. And more. Ask yourself, what's stopping you from making G-d your go-to? 

Encouraging G-ds Bad Habits: A Perspective on the Leiby Kletzky Tragedy

By Chanale Felig 
Chanale lives in Coconut Grove, FL and directs Friendship Miami, a non-profit organization serving children with special needs. She is currently working on her BA in Psychology and Marketing. She has been writing for years, publishing her musings in consistent e-mails to her family and friends—this is her first published article.

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On July 11, 2011 the entire Brooklyn Jewish community held their breath as local police, community leaders, and 5,000 volunteers scoured New York City for eight year old Leiby Kletzky. Two days later on early Wednesday morning police officials confirmed that the boy had been kidnapped and murdered in a heinous manner. The reaction of the community was absolute terror. The following was my initial reaction to the inhumane attack on this young and innocent boy.

Encouraging G-ds Bad Habits: 

A Perspective on the Leiby Kletzky Tragedy

[July 15, 2011]

You’d be hard pressed to find a single Jewish person who didn’t feel the urge to throw up while listening to this week's headlines. We all can't stop crying in pain.


I don’t think anything hurts as much as shattered innocence—the loss of a child. It seems it’s particularly difficult to let go of the idea of potential. It's so unfair. And when loss occurs in such an unspeakable manner, it begs the age-old questions: Why do evil things happen to innocent people? What good results from our pain? In 5,771 years of experience, we are only beginning to understand the questions to ask. We have concluded that to denounce our faith in G-d out of our pain, only results in a further pain. We are motivated by our need to belong to something, and to turn from G-d would only add salt to the wound. 

We already learned that to express unity in a trying time brings G-d tremendous joy, so we unify. When the heat is on, all pretenses fall and we uncover our soul connection to our brothers. We already always respond to all terrible news with increased acts of goodness and kindness. And yet despite all our growth, we still fumble when it hurts. We still cry out in anguish, wondering if we’re heard. We still try to mop up the mess, not quite sure how it got there. 


What is going on in our relationship with G-d? How do we feel safe with such an Awesome and Powerful G-d? Where is the security in knowing our fate is in His hands? 


Maybe before we look towards G-d, we ought to look deeper into ourselves... 


In numerous places the Torah compares our relationship with G-d to a marriage. In this relationship, he is the spouse that’s looking for validation. When he sends us nice weather, keeps the economy in check, gives us our health, we take Him for granted. We begin to expect to wake up to all these nice things, and forget to acknowledge that He did them, because He loves us. 


And then tragedy strikes, as is the way of the world – and suddenly G-d begins to notice a more attentive spouse in us. Suddenly, Synagogues are filled. Prayer books fly open, and coins rattle in charity boxes worldwide. 

We’re not sending a very good message. 


Whenever things are good – we neglect to praise G-d for all He does. But then when things are bad, He is showered with our love, devotion, and faith. With all the good that comes out of negative situations, it’s no wonder they occur so frequently. 


 It’s just bad psychology. We’re reinforcing G-d’s negative behaviors. 


What if we turned things around? What if we responded to every good occasion with something positive? What if we whipped out our prayer books when someone had a baby, or got married? What if we gave charity every morning, just because the sun was shining? Just because there was food on the table and we were able to put it there? 


 How would the world change if we stopped strengthening our faith in G-d only when the earth rumbles beneath us? What if we offered validation for the things that gives Him pleasure to do, not only in the things that pain Him too? 


It seems useless to beg Him to stop, because no matter how many times we do – pain still finds its way into our lives. It seems useless to tell Him how much we believe in Him, because it’s past the time that he wants to hear it. 


What if we took a more proactive approach? Instead of waiting until He is let down by our neglect, let’s beat Him to the punch: the next time you hear something positive, a good piece of news, respond in kind. Encourage good karma. 


We need to show G-d that we love him always. 


That it is not only in bad times that we remember His name.

 May Hashem comfort the mourners amongst the mourners in Zion and Yerushalayim.