Spiritual Mathematical Knot

Spiritual Mathematical Knot

A conversation on Facebook helped me appreciate the ultimate spiritual mathematical knot – drawing closer to God. Baha'i RingstoneResponding to a Baha’i quote on the challenges inherent in searching for God a friend posted this tongue-in-cheek response “So. Pretty easy overall.” A mathematical formula to describe how easy it might be came to me in a flash. The difficulty we have in finding and drawing near to God equals our actual distance from God divided by how close we think we are. Let’s unpack this spiritual mathematical knot.
 

Thinking we have God in our back pocket creates a mathematical impossibility. You can’t divide by zero. This is the challenge facing those who, like I once did, think they are comparatively closer to God than others. 

A group I once belonged to was über-obedient. We kept many Torah Commandments, like the Sabbath, Holy days, and food laws. By having both the law and the testimony of Christ we believed we were closer to God than anyone else on earth. In some ways, maybe we were. We took God at His Word and organized every aspect of our life around obeying, following and worshiping Him.

impossible divideAnd yet belief in proximity to God kept us from drawing any closer. My personal battle with this is described in painful personal detail across the pages of the first two books of my Trilogy.  The People of the Sign describes my involvement with the Worldwide Church of God and its 1995 implosion. That devastating fail was underscored by many members blaming the other side instead of becoming introspective. Being a victim of divorce and kidnapping helped me understand the two sides. Detachment helped me realize I was nowhere near as close to God as I had thought, opening up the “valley of search” described by the Baha’i quote that led to this blog.

Spiritual Proximity Sensor 2

My personal search around the world is described in The Hardness of the Heart. How we view and treat our fellow man is directly related to how open our heart is to God. Self-sufficiency, judgmental attitudes and the belief that we already have enough of God in our lives creates an impassible divide between us and God.

There are many ways to conclude we are as close to God as possible, which becomes self-fulfilling. How close are you to God?Fear of turning to God due to feelings of guilt and inadequacy are but mirror images of this arrogance. They are also expressions of a focus on ourselves. These too are fetters of ego that create distance.

Yet anyone who thinks they are far away from God can easily draw nearer just by deciding to. Recognizing the distance allows us to instantly decrease it. Think of how Christ welcomed and embraced sinners, while condemning the Pharisees. Apparently such spiritual equations function more like quantum mechanics than classical physics.

How close are you to God?This makes searching for God  sound easier than it is, of course. But on the other hand, we usually make it harder than it is. And I think that was the point of my friend’s cheeky, and well-timed response to my Facebook post. Thank God for friends who help us untie spiritual mathematical knots. Or tie them, as the case may be.

Are you as close to God as you want to be? Or knot? John 13:35 says everyone can know who follows Christ by a simple test. Do you know what it is?
A Special People?

A Special People?

We have children of a certain age – 4 and 7. So I can relate to Jami, the author of this blog on a child’s piano recital. She humorously points out that she wants her children to know they “aren’t that great”. “You’re not better than others”.

I'm Better Than YouShe somewhat convincingly suggests that this is the message of Christ. It’s a great blog, and it inspired me to try to tackle this important topic myself, however imperfectly, because Jami’s blog raises a question that is at the heart and core of my book – “The People of the Sign”.

Why does God seemingly tell Israel, in Deuteronomy 7:6, the opposite of what Jami proclaims as the message of Christ?

For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Isn’t telling one people they shall be raised above all others the opposite of what Christ tried to accomplish? Isn’t Christ’s approach to this at the heart of why the Pharisee’s hated Him, and killed Him? Isn’t this question at the heart of all religious strife on this planet today, as evidenced by the highly explosive situation in the Middle East, focused on Israel?

This is a blog, not a treatise on theology, so at the risk of oversimplifying I’ll discuss just two quick points on why there is no contradiction between Moses and Christ.

First – if you want to find evidence of progressive revelation, that God has been raising mankind, the way parents raise children, here it is. Every parent knows you fill your children with love in infancy. You make sure they know that they are THE most important thing in your life. This statement by God is 100% in alignment with that principle.

Life is hardBut does that relegate Moses to “baby talk” – a lovingly told divine lie, a bait and switch, in which the baby later learns “it’s a cruel world, and I know I told you that you were special, but you really aren’t?”

There is a parallel verse that can help us answer this – Exodus 19:5

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

Here we see, clearly, that God conditions such elevation. The same principle of “you are a special treasure above all people” is outlined in Exodus 19:5, but with a caveat. “If you will indeed obey”. Is God interested in being obeyed? Not so much. He is interested in the results of obedience. His laws are “great making”. The greatness part comes as a result of the learning that comes from obeying God’s holy and perfect law. And it does elevate the keepers of it above others, because they do become great.

And, in fact, the New Testament also addresses Christians as “a special people, a royal priesthood”. And there is a whole lot of theology that tries to deal with the seeming contradiction I raised above. The New Testament writers after Christ, especially Paul, and the religion that was constructed upon an imperfect understanding of what Christ brought, have wrestled with this question down to our day.

A major problem with Judaism is that, as a result of historical failure to keep the law they wrote a never ending series of protective laws, to ensure it was kept. A major problem with Christianity is that Divine Law was thrown out altogether. Today, we are still trying to figure this out, but it’s really not that hard. Check out my blog on a little known book called The Secret of Divine Civilization for a practical example of this.

HumilityWe are trending toward World War III because religious fanatics have so twisted and overheated the hearts of millions of followers that they are willing to risk global conflict to prove that they, not the modern nation of Israel, are the chosen ones of God. Secular society, on the other hand, abandons all Divine guidance.

At the center of all this is the world’s only Jewish State – and a people who, after 4,000 years and millennia of suffering, may be closer than we think to the answers to this conundrum. These are, in a sense, The People of the Sign – since the Sign in the name of my first book refers to the Sign of the Covenant God made with Israel – the Sabbath. But the answer to why I believe they are close to a breakthrough will have to wait for another day.

The Iran Reset is a Boiling Frog

The Iran Reset is a Boiling Frog

Powell IranColin Powell is cautiously in favor of the Iran Reset, so we who oppose it on rational grounds must sit up and take notice. Yet the most telling quote in the linked article was “With respect to the Iranians, it’s don’t trust, never trust, and always verify,” Powell said. “And I think a very vigorous verification regime has been put in place.”

Setting aside the fact that our past verification regime has failed because of the advanced refinement of Iran’s capabilities in subterfuge, deception and duplicity, this key question demands an answer. If we don’t trust them, at this point, and should never trust them, and we FINALLY had them (through all the international sanctions) at the point of negotiation, why have we offered so much, for so little, to a nation that clearly has NO intention of adhering to the agreement?

Obama reset IranIn my view it boils down (pun intended) to whether or not the US feels it has behaved so badly that we have to give Iran a mile-high-stack of get-out-of-jail free cards on past behaviors – the kind of “reset” that the Obama administration gave Russia.

And while no nation on earth, including the US, is squeaky clean – by any stretch of the imagination, that is no reason to give one of the most cancerous regimes on the planet, in terms of global security and peace, such a windfall of new opportunity to reveal its spots. These spots are, after all, already so much on display that they have become a kind of boiled-frog camouflage. The rest of the world is jaded and accepting of them.

Given where all this is clearly trending, despite Powell’s “balanced” position – I still say nay.
And to the Colin Powells of the world, those who are principled and who seek rational, moderate, and peaceful paths, within the ambient temperature of today’s waters, I offer the following thoughts. As we seek to retain objectivity and approach our current situation rationally we must include a broader historical perspective.  Here, for example, is an article that challenges convention by pointing out a number of “inconvenient truths” from the past, that should ABSOLUTELY be considered in any present-day decisions. A few of the bulleted highlights are included below:
  • Forgotten is that the “Palestinian people” and the “Palestinian cause” are a mythic narrative invented by the KGB and Nasser’s secret service propaganda machine in the 1960s.
  • Hamas has an even more genocidal goal: the destruction of Israel and all Jews. For many journalists, that is also a detail not worth mentioning.
  • The Iranian regime claims non-stop that its main objective is the elimination of Israel and Israeli Jews. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has just published a book, Palestine, detailing his plans to destroy Israel.

Frog Iran ResetThat these points possibly seem hysteric, or have the taint of conspiracy theory makes my point for me. Rather than reject them because they are outside the mainstream, try to prove them factually wrong, if you can.  And be aware that myopic present-situation-colored reset buttons are the ideological equivalent of boiling a frog in water. We accept the increased heat as the new norm. This is very risky approach – one which all warm-blooded species should avoid at all costs.

 

Freedom v. Religion?

Freedom v. Religion?

Freedom From ReligionThis blog continues a discussion started in my last blog and ties it in with my opinion that the United States risks turning a founding principle – freedom of religion – into freedom from religion.

Religious Freedom is a primary source of the unparallelled ascendancy of the US and of its influence in human affairs. Many seek to exercise this freedom in an effort to align the nation with the Will of God as expressed in the Bible. This anchors one side of the so-called “Culture War” which has been emerging for 150 years, and which in recent decades has given birth to the red/blue state divide.

Obergefell v. HodgesThe rainbow symbolizes two extremes. One side invokes Noah’s flood as described in Genesis 6:5: “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” In the wake of the US Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on same-sex marriage the President turned the White House into a rainbow.  Storm clouds are gathering over an epic battle for religious freedom.

Mormon Polygamists in PrisonBack in 1878 SCOTUS ruled in Reynolds vs. the United States that you can hold a religious belief in polygamy, but you can’t act on it. Why are polygamists jailed while same-sex couples are protected? What kinds of impulses qualify as those which can be acted upon, vs. those which can’t? Are there other cases which shed light on these questions?

Hobby Lobby ObamacareIn Burwell v. Hobby Lobby SCOTUS ruled that Hobby Lobby can ignore “Obamacare’s” birth-control mandate for religious reasons. “Americans do not lose their religious freedom when they run a family business” they said. A Huffington Post article assures conservatives nothing has changed.

Gay Wedding RingsThis rings hollow. An Oregon court fined Aaron and Melissa Klein $135,000 for refusing to bake a lesbian wedding cake. Is Sweet Cakes different than Hobby Lobby? Yes, because one was about an offering to all employees, the other about discriminating against certain customers. And Sweet Cakes’ owners acted foolishly and punitively, while Hobby Lobby can be said to have acted wisely, with restraint. Still, to determine the Sweet Cakes fine an employee discrimination case, in which one would expect higher fines, was used.  And some believe “militant gays” are using the new state and federal rulings to target a different minority – Christians with anti same-sex beliefs. The outcome of  Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Craig (Denver, CO) may shed light or throw fuel on the fire.

To help reflect on this I randomly picked a Virtues Card and came up with Hope – “looking to the future with trust and faith”. Interestingly, the card features the rainbow. Coincidence?

Noah's Covenant and Gay PrideI don’t believe in coincidence and I believe America’s roots tap into divine soil. She plays a pivotal role in the Creator’s purpose and I have faith she will continue to do so. The card says “The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance, but live right in it, under its roof.” This is one of the reasons I chose to tackle this thorny and potentially divisive topic in this blog. I have hope – and I hope that a discussion, a dialogue, will lead to answers, and peace, and reconciliation, and unity. After all, the motto on our great seal is “e pluribus unum”.

Mosaic Flag

 

Supporting the POTUS

Supporting the POTUS

ConstitutionIn a recent online discussion I voiced disagreement with the President of the United States (POTUS) and was reminded that since he is President of my country I must support him.

Yes, the POTUS is the President. But the US Constitution is built upon the separation of Powers – between the President, the Congress, and the Judicial system (the Law).

separation of powersThe President had Congress behind him, in an almost unprecedented way, upon his election 6 years ago. Under his leadership his party has lost “control” of congress, and he is now acting in opposition to Congress. This is one reason Congress invited Netanyahu to speak, to provide a counterpoint to negotiations the President is conducting which specifically do not have the support of a majority of the American population, which many, myself included, deem wrongheaded and reckless, and which endanger the security of America and the world. In the American democracy we have not only the right, but the obligation, to make these views known, in an effort to influence and moderate the President’s decisions.

Further, the global Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty is a legal document.

The President does NOT have the authority to unilaterally change that treaty, which (if the reports are accurate) he is undermining in his negotiations with Iran at this point in time. If he then proceeds to execute an agreement with Iran without congressional approval, he will be acting in violation of the law, and will serve to further destabilize the world which was made a safer place through the execution of that Non-proliferation treaty.

Already other nations are positioning themselves for the new “treaty-violated” world Obama is creating. Exhibit A is the agreement the Saudi’s reached with North Korea.

Thus, while my discussion partner made a valid point, it is pointless. I fully support the President of the US, so long as the President is acting within the constitutional rights we elected him to exercise and also uphold. To the degree he is acting outside those rights, or violating them, we need to support the Congress and the Judicial branch even if it means opposing the President.

That is the nature of the balance of powers which is what, even more than presidential leadership, has made this country great.

Nuclear NonproliferationObama betrayed that trust when he failed to take meaningful action to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine against the Russian aggression in Crimea, and he is apparently proceeding with a disastrous deal with Iran. I am very, very far from being a hawk. I think war is atrocious, and I do not wish to send American’s overseas to fight wars.

But I am also a student of history and geopolitics. As such, I know for an undeniable fact, that when we pursue the path of appeasement so infamously pursued by Chamberlain, vs. the path of opposition so famously advocated by Churchill, the result is more war, death, destruction and chaos, not less.

Unfortunately it has become very clear in the last 4 years that Obama is pursuing a path worse than that taken by Chamberlain. Obama is not only appeasing aggressor states, he is advocating for the expansion of their influence, power and even military capabilities, in the case of both Russia, which his “reset” and more importantly, the entire Muslim world, beginning with his support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which pushed that country towards the brink of chaos, from which it thankfully recovered, from his failure to adhere to his own “red line” in Syria, in favor of letting Russia’s role increase, his withdrawal from Iraq, leading to the rise of Isis, and now his overt efforts to empower, embolden and even encourage Iran to continue it’s aggressive regional expansion.

The story of The Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly comes to mind. We’re about to start choking on the Iranian horse intended to catch the ISIS cow we allowed by ignoring the Syrian dog when we swallowed the cat of withdrawing from Iraq.

The thinking that got us here einsteinDespite the president’s ludicrous claim, just a few months ago, that the world was a safer place, anyone who is able to assess the world objectively understands that nothing could be further from the truth.

Interestingly, the Virtue Card randomly chosen to conclude this blog was Initiative. Here are some of the quotes from the card: “Initiative is originality and creativity in action. When we have initiative we boldly express new ideas, discover a new method, or find a different way to solve a problem.”

We can fix this, America, but given how far we’ve strayed it’s not going to be easy. The time to take initiative is now.

The Mastermind

The Mastermind

The MastermindTurkish leaders have produced an Anti-Semitic movie called “The Mastermind”, which resurrects the old lie about Jewish domination of the planet. What can I say about such a topic that hasn’t already been said? Not much.

So I’ll just give voice to my opinion that there is a Mastermind – a divine Being who holds the whole world in His hand – and has foretold the future of mankind, and its segments, such as the Jews and the Muslims and the Christians, and the Nations that have formed around and out of these major religions.

Buchenwald

Was Buchenwald part of the Jewish masterplan?

So while the new movie “The Mastermind” tells one version of the story, here is, in my view, a snapshot of why that story seems credible to one set of religious fanatics. The verses below are not the evil master plan of world domination, written and followed by those tiny tribes known as The Jews and the minor regional player known then, and now, as Israel. History shows us that they were decimated by the Holocaust and that the world threw the handful of survivors, barely clinging to life, onto the destitute shores of the postage-stamp-sized piece of desert real-estate they have claimed as their homeland.

Yes, they have worked hard to build a nation for their tiny sliver of mankind on that tiny sliver of land. But now, as it has been throughout their history, they look to God to grant them what He wishes them to have, rather than take it by conquest. Those whom Psalm 2 calls “The Heathen” would do well to recognize and honor this version of the story.

Psalm 2 – King James Version: Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

bytdvd house of david City of David Commons

Biblical Zion – the City of David. Per Turkey a building block of the Mastermind’s evil plan

I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

The random Virtue card I pulled to close out this blog with was Purposefulness.  Honestly. Seriously. After fully drafting the above. As is the case with Psalm 2, and its fulfillment in broad daylight today – you simply can’t make this stuff up.

“Purposefulness is being aware that each of us is here for a reason. We value our lives by discovering the part we are uniquely meant to play. We discern our intention and focus on it mindfully”.

Amen.Celestial Signs of the Covenants

Shabbat Nowruz

Shabbat Nowruz

Shabbat Shalom / Happy Nowruz

Nowruz Nah RuzNowruz is the new year celebration for Iranians which comes on the Spring Equinox – which is today. It is a time for joy, hope, celebration, presents. President Obama called out “Happy Nowruz” yesterday, as this day arrived in the region formerly known as Persia, due to the Earth reaching that designated place in its orbit around the sun. This day is also significant to the Zoroastrian Faith, The Baha’i Faith, and others.

Lunar Eclipse 2015 / Blood MoonToday also, however, happens to be the first Jewish Sabbath after the recent elections in Israel. And it comes during a cycle of Blood Moons that many believe have historic prophetic significance. In other words, this day is at the center of a swirl of real-world and symbolic happenings. Let’s take stock of the situation

Israel faces greater uncertainty in the region, including the fear that the $5B in funds to rebuild Gaza, and the efforts of Abbas at the UN continue to pose an existential threat to the Jewish state. The Middle East Forum recently published an excellent summary of this – a balanced representation of the challenges facing the new government in Israel. Obama and IranHere in America the President and other elected representatives are at odds over what is to be done in the region as he pursue negotiations with Iran that many feel will lead to disaster. One reason this seems to be a valid concern is related to the New Year beginning now in Iran. Their New Year holiday coincides with that of the Baha’i Naw-Rúz, and they are a sizable religious minority in Iran, to which I happen to belong. And yet Iran has a long history of persecuting the Baha’is – including murder, terror, torture and incarceration. This does not bode well for the future of mankind.

Thankfully, there is a God in heaven who will see to it that His Will is ultimately fulfilled.

The random virtues card I drew was cooperation. “Working together for the good of all… the willingness to stand side by side and use the different gifts each of us has to offer.” Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.” General Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the U.S.A.

Amen.

Dwight D. Eisenhower EisenhauerFrom the linked article above “The Eisenhauer (German for “iron hewer/miner”) family migrated from Karlsbrunn, Germany, to North America, first settling in York, Pennsylvania, in 1741, and in the 1880s moving to Kansas. Accounts vary as to how and when the German name Eisenhauer was anglicized to Eisenhower.”

Two thoughts come to mind. Christ was to return with a Rod of Iron, to set up 1,000 years of peace. And and “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks:” which would require an Eisenhauer.

Netanyahu has been referred to as a modern Churchill, who also comes to my mind in this context, but I had not thought to compare him to Eisenhower, who served in WWI and was the supreme allied commander in WWII. It was the US entry in WWII that ultimately saved what was left of the Jewish population in Europe and elsewhere, enabling the establishment, in 1948, of the Jewish state, which collected the desperate and dying remnant of the people still clinging to the Covenant of Moses.Juif

There is much in the news about Netanyahu’s approach to cooperation, and a two-state solution. The controversy is related to whether more pressure should be put on Israel or its enemies to cooperate. Many feel that a certain minimal standard of cooperation needs to be applied to both parties, rather than the path taken by my heritage-nation, Sweden for there to be more cooperation by the Israeli’s.

Beat their Swords into PlowsharesThese are important topics, because, to reverse the Iron hewer’s quote,  only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can prevent the need for force, as men look towards the dawn of eternal peace.

 

Netanyahu’s Moment

Netanyahu’s Moment

Benjamin Netanyahu will soon address Congress in a polarizing Polaroid moment. He’s a lightning rod for US internal politics highlighting tension between the three branches of Government and the US population.  Crossroads MediumThe Executive Branch is livid, and overreacting.  The Legislative Branch is divided, but pulling strongly against the President. The Judicial Branch may become embroiled in challenges to Executive Branch actions. The Red / Blue state divide is mixing and morphing to purple as issues collide and alignments slide.

In short, the US, Israel and the world stand at a major crossroad.

Where do you stand?

This Article might provoke some thought in that regard.

My 6 year old daughter pulled Mindfulness as the Virtues Card for me to reflect upon. It is “living reflectively, with conscious awareness of our actions, words and thoughts – attentive to others needs. Living mindfully lightens our lives by helping us to detach from our emotions. We transform anger to justice. We cultivate our inner vision, aware of life’s lessons as they unfold.”

Wow.Netanyahu's Moment

On the back of the card “Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the light?… Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things?”

Tao Te Ching

“Mindfulness brings us serenity.”

Amen

Beautiful Striped Pajamas

Beautiful Striped Pajamas

To follow up on my Never Again? Shut Up! blog I decided to review  kindred movies that deal with the Holocaust in parallel ways, each of which is stunningly effective. Before doing so, let me preface the reviews with a few comments about the pending visit of Benjamin Netanyahu – or Bibi as he is commonly known.

This recent Politico Article illustrates the fallout caused by Congress’ invitation for Bibi to speak to it.  The article quotes Martin Indyk, a former ambassador to Israel under Bill Clinton saying “nobody wants to be put in the position of taking sides… Democrats who are supporters of Israel don’t want to have to choose between supporting Israel and supporting their president.”

DiscordNancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives echoed this sentiment when she, according to Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill “expressed her concern that casting a political apple of discord into the relationship is not the best way forward given the formidable challenges our two countries are facing together”.  It appears she blames Bibi.  I’ll keep my opinion to myself on this, and invite you to reflect on where the “political apple of discord” originated.

Was it the invitation by John Boehner, Speaker of the US House of Representatives? Bibi’s acceptance? President Obama’s reaction? The responses by Representatives in Ms. Pelosi’s Party? Or do the causes lie with others, inside or outside the US?

But getting back to the topic of remembering the Holocaust, the origin and continued existence of the embattled “Jewish State” is directly tied to the unbelievable suffering of Jews throughout history, culminating in the Holocaust.  Denial of the Holocaust and the refusal to accept the legitimacy of Israel, and its right to defend itself, go hand-in-glove.  On the world scene many people and nations today have turned Anti-Zionism into a gross caricature of the Antisemitism that empowered the annihilation of over six million Jews.

Antisemetic caricature

It took the tiny nation 50 years to achieve a population as large as that, and since then the forces that sought to destroy it before it got established, and which have conspired against it ever since, have continued to grow in strength and influence.  The global narrative against Israel is eerily similar to that which existed in Weimar Germany, throughout sections of Europe, and pockets outside of it, in the build-up to the Holocaust.

In the US we’ve generally been supportive of Israel, but as our current president seeks to normalize relations with traditional enemies, including Iran, many believe that he has betrayed Israel, a nation we have traditionally supported. Clearly, the world is, in fact, being forced to choose.  And while it is not Israel doing the forcing, it seems to be the very presence of the Jews who, like Dickens’ Ghosts of Christmas, haunt anti-semites, past, present and future. Speaking of Christmas, a wave of religious persecution unheard of in centuries is sweeping the world, as indicated by “Christmas Slaughter”, a Gatestone Article highlighting that, in the Muslim world “Christmas celebrations were, as usual, tense and sometimes bloody”.

The first of the two movies I’d like to discuss is “Life is Beautiful”, by director Roberto Benigni, which won three Oscars in 1997. This implausible romantic comedy morphs into a story about a father trying to help his son survive a Nazi Concentration camp.  roberto benigni nicoletta braschi life is beautifulIt celebrates the power of the Human Spirit, giving visual voice to the sentiments Viktor Frankl expressed in “Man’s Search For Meaning”.  Frankl eloquently and convincingly argued that those who were able to find meaning in their suffering were more likely to survive. Against all odds, both Frankl and Benigni pull off a miracle.  Helping us understand this aspect of the Holocaust and believe that in some finite way, individuals were able to exercise a fragment of control, even in the most horrific and hopeless situations, which at times made the difference between life and death. This is one aspect of the Holocaust that needs to be remembered – the power of the Faith of those Jews, and others, who, against all odds, survived. This is the rare movie I have watched more than once, and though I last saw it over decade ago, it sticks with you, in a very positive way.

The movie, however, that inspired this blog was one I watched last night;  “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” directed by Mark Herman.  This lesser known and less decorated movie is etched more clearly into my psyche than the lighter, and more inspiring movie I referenced above.  boy in the striped pajamasIt is Chilling.  Haunting.  And memorable for similar, but distinctly different reasons. Both movies illustrate how the innocence and imagination of a young boy, faced with the horror of genocidal ethnic hatred, has the ability to overcome what otherwise would be the extinction of the soul. Both movies illustrate how a belief in one’s father, supported by the love of one’s mother, gives the needed left and right wings for the spirit of the child to soar above the downward spiral of an evil so grim it presents the gassing and burning of people, based on their religious and cultural ethnicity, as a solution.

The difference between the two is the nature of the father.

I won’t spoil either movie, but strongly recommend you watch them both, with this in mind.  What I will say before pulling a random Virtue Card to guide us to conclusion, is that the Title of my trilogy and this Blog “The People of the Sign” really centers around that question.  What is the Nature of our Father – capital F – our Divine Creator? And how do we identify with Him? My book posits that, for the Jews it was the Sign of the Sabbath Day, which gave them an identity the Nazis could hang a yellow star upon, branding them for slaughter.

The card I pulled was Cooperation. I resisted my initial desire to draw again, which would be contrary to numerous virtues, and instead decided to cooperate with it. Here’s a selection of what’s on the card:

“Cooperation is working together for the good of all. It is the willingness to stand, side by side and use the different gifts each of us has to offer. We seek common goals in service of a unified vision.” The card features a great quote by Dwight Eisenhower “Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace”.

I’m glad I chose to cooperate with it.  I’m of the opinion that we do face an emergency, and that force will be needed to deal with it. At the same time, the only solution is cooperation. Within congress. Between congress and the President. And with Israel, who perhaps has more grounds than any other nation on earth to decide not to cooperate with others, in order to protect themselves.

I for one wish to hear what Bibi has to say. He represents a people whose clarity was forged by trusting in God, over millennia, and who, despite the Holocaust, haven’t given up on life, or on cooperation.

Never Again? Shut Up!

Never Again? Shut Up!

Buchenwald“You Jews – it never happened, and if you don’t shut up it will happen again.”

This quote was shared by Ben Kingsley in his recent interview about filming the story of Simon Wiesenthal in Budapest, Hungary. This is disturbing, on every imaginable level.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and on this day I’m proud to be associated with the book Genocide Revealed, which covers the culpability of Hungarian War Hero Admiral Miklos Horthy.  According to Aleksander Veljic’s book, Horthy, Hungarian Regent over occupied Serbia, was the first Anti-Semitic leader of Europe – and an inspiration to Hitler. Miklos Horthy RazziaVeljic’s one-of-a-kind book independently revealed the names, dates & places prior to the unveiling of the UN Archives which corroborated his previously disputed presentation of events.

As we remember the liberation of Jews at Auschwitz, specifically, and Buchenwald, Dachau, and all the other places and events, generally, let’s also remember the unknown-to-most Razzia in Serbia, which happened 73 years ago on January 23. The details of this horrendous event are covered in detail in Veljic’s account.

But back to “It never happened, and if you don’t shut up it will happen again.” and Ben’s calm, reasoned plea that Europe grieve.  This bears megatons of emotional weight. The sentiment expressed by the person in Budapest gives credence to the oft-repeated quote that Europe has never forgiven the Jews for the Holocaust.

This “blame-the-victim” mentality directed at Jews must be opposed by non-Jews.  Pieter Schelte Ship SSJews shouldn’t need to ask and ask and ask for the respect and consideration they are denied in Europe and elsewhere. When Jews oppose naming the largest crane ship in the world after SS War Criminal Pieter Schelte the rest of us should support their demand to change it.

Even Google, the organizer of the world’s information has failed us. I looked to see how they would change their logo today, like they do for other memorable events.  Nope, they used their standard, cheery, colorful logo above their search bar.  But they did stick a link below “I’m Feeling Lucky” – “Remembering the Liberation of Auschwitz” as though the Holocaust is something we celebrate.  Jews should feel lucky too – they were liberated!” Yippee!Google Celebrates the HolocaustThey’re smart at Google and they have reasons for this which I’m unaware of.  These reasons might affect my opinion but for now I’m disappointed to say the least.

Further words fail me in the face of this issue. So today, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I really needed a random virtues card to provide me with a lens through which to view what is otherwise a very depressing situation. “Wonder” was the card that came up.

Wonder Synchronicity“Wonder is being open to the beauty and mysteries of life. It is our soul’s appreciation for what is precious and inspiring. When we live reflectively, we delight in the signs and wonders that appear in our lives. We are alert to synchronicities that point us toward a decision or give us a deeper insight into the truth.” Sure enough, I am uplifted by these thoughts.

I suppose, in a way, it is synchronicity that brought Kingsley’s Interview,  Alexander Veljic, me, and you, together on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It does certainly open up a door of discussion.  So I will open myself up to the wonder of this day of remembrance, and that which reveals itself along its path.

I hope you will too. Let’s agree to share our thoughts with each other, and in so doing, remember to make the world a better place.

I wonder what will happen when we do?