Osler's Razor

All thumbs up,and also pinkies and large and small toes,which are decidedly curled. I would love to meet Rabbi Cohen,especially since I am a secret Jew (who believes rather strongly in Jesus).Have been since the reading of THE SOURCE years ago,and novels and short stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer. This must have been quite a moment. I am fond of those moments when you are astonished and moved and you share them with us.
 

Hushed?

I was while attending morning services at St. Martin’s by-the-Lake Episcopal Church and enjoying Mark’s “Richard Byrd Chair in Preaching” sermon; though many conversations were enjoyed before and after the service – a most welcoming congregation and a wonderful Sunday morning.

I was also blessed to enjoy the spirit revealed and retained in the details of Cass Gilbert’s chapel designed in 1887. The chapel was commissioned for the wedding of Major George Camp’s daughter and after the ceremony was donated to the Episcopal Diocese. As Mark observed, all that mankind creates (all that is designed, Christine) pales compared to His creation – the vista of Lake Minnetonka from the chapel steps is live art at its finest and the unfolding seasons savored from such a lovely perch must adorn the gallery walls of many a heart…

I wish for better context to Rabbi Cohen’s revelation that the deepest level of understanding (Jewish) Scripture was described as a “secret.” To me the “secret” may not be “…some stunning truth I had never seen before.” – But the stunning reminder of the breadth of God’s love, affirmation and mercy.

With the dawn of each new liturgical year, if our hearts remain open, we are gifted – through scripture, prayer, encounter, crisis, accomplishment and more – with incredibly personalized road maps intended to guide our spiritual lives – spiritual lives distilled in simplicity of message, though lives often lived most circuitous.

I marvel at the smile that greets us each evening, His smile that mercifully cleanses – denial first, then a troubled heart – assured to be held tight in a comforting embrace that encourages renewed participation in our new tomorrows – new tomorrows that offer blessings of an entirety of the liturgical season when we open our heart, our mind and share His love during each of our encounters.

To me, no matter how often I stumble, the “secret” is the breadth of His unconditional love and His hand that is ever extended, “Come!”
 

The teachings of Torah or any scripture, just like life lessons to me, can be seen by all (obvious) heard by most (allusive) and understood by some (influenced). But the way these teachings relate to us, the way we interpret them and respond to them as individuals is hidden from all...the secret is to be revealed to us and only us. The secret is our private epiphany, our very own truth.
 

Mark, while on a college semester program in Israel we had an amazing seminar with A. B. Yehoshua, one of Israel’s foremost fiction writers. He talked at length about the debate Israel had about which language to adopt with independence. That was fascinating in itself, the idea of a state making a conscious choice about its state language. More so, and in reference to your post, he talked at length about the challenges of both modernizing an ancient language (Hebrew), a language that had largely been the language of temple and worship for 2,000 years. Even more daunting was creating contemporary fiction with a language with a rich esoteric tradition. Among those layers of “secret meaning” is the numeric value of each letter in the Hebrew alphabet and associate Kabalistic meanings. I love this … the complexity, the richness, the depth of it, and how it calls on us to work at it ... it stretches us. All language is metaphorical in nature, and like with God, not all of it is accessible to us. And I love that too.
 

Thank you Marta and CraigA for shining light on the "secret" and expanding my reflection on Mark's Sunday observations and commentary.