Day of the Holy Name of Jesus
December 31, 2007
Psalm 8


photo taken 5/2004 kayaking near the mouth of the Columbia River (where it empties into the Pacific Ocean)

Partners in God, partners in Christ, we are one family.
Have a blessed, safe,healthy,happy, and truthful 2008 Epiphany,Tu B'Shvat,Lent,Purim,Easter,Passover,Ascension, Pentecost,Shavuous season
this year.
Being One in Jesus Christ today, we are One in God Our Father,
Being One in God Our Father today, we are One in Christ Jesus forever.

Yearly Prayer Calendar

Holy Days 5768-5769/2008 Confession of St. Peter (Jan 18 Psalm 23), Conversion day of St. Paul (Jan. 25 Psalm 67), Tu B’Shvat (Festival of the Trees) January 22, Ash Wednesday (February 6), Saint Benedict’s day (March 2), Purim (March 21), Saint Gregory’s day (March 12), Saint George’s day and Easter (March 23), Passover (April 19-27), St. Mark (April 25 Psalm 2),Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ into his eternal rule in God's Kingdom of Heaven in US, May 1, Pentecost (May 4), Lag B’Omer (May 23), Shavuos (June 9),St. Peter and St. Paul’s day (June 29 Psalms 66, 87,97,138), Independence Day U.S.A.,St. Mary Magalene (July 21 Psalms 30,42,116,149), St. James day (July 25, Psalms 7, 33,34), St. Ignatius Loyola's day (July 31), Saint Bernard’s day (August 20), Saint Barthomew’s (Nathaniel’s ) day (August 24 Psalms 15,67,86, 91), World Peace Day (September 21), Rosh Hashanah (September 29-30) along with Gabriel, Michael, Ariel, Raphael and All Angels day (Sept. 29), Succoth October 14, Saint Francis of Assisi’s day Oct. 4 ,St. Luke (Oct 18 Psalm 103), Saint James of Jerusalem day (Oct 23 Psalm 1), All Souls/All Saints Day (Psalms 111,112,148,149,150), Veteran’s Day (November 11), Saint Margaret’s day (Nov. 16), Thanksgiving day (November 27), Saint Andrew’s day November 30 (Psalms 19,24,96,100), St. Thomas’s day (Dec.21 Pslams 23,27,121,126), Channukah (December 22, Christmas December 25,St. John’s day (Dec. 27 Psalm 92,97,98,145), Holy Innocent’s day (Dec. 28, Psalms 2,19, 26,126), Day of the Holy Name of Jesus (Dec. 31, Psalm 8).

[For Bible readings and Psalms that go with these Holy Days see the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (both the two year daily office and the two year lectionary readings) or the three year revised common lectionary at http:\\divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary . The revised common lectionary was created for the occasions of common prayer and worship services among Protestants, Catholics and Jews. It has more readings from the Old Testament than the ordinary episcopal or catholic lectionary. Using these two or three year daily offices is an excellent way to keep track of an intention for reading most of the Bible in two years. The best translation of the Bible I have found is “The Amplified Bible” published by Zondervan. It has cross-references in the text to related passages and prophecies which make this translation even more of a “Tree of Life” than others.]
For about 1/3 of the Psalms as of now, some excellent contemporary translations,discusssions, and music are available. See the website of the New Zealand Christian Musicians who are called the Sons of Korah. CDs are available from www.familychristian.com.

New Moons of Shevet (January 8), Adar I (February 7) , Adar II (February 24), Nissan (March 29), Iyar (May 5), Sivan (June 4) , Tammuz (July 2), Av (Augus 2), Elul (August 14), Tishrei (August 31) , Rosh Hashanah (September 29),Yom Kippur (September 22), Succos (September 27), Hoshana Rabba October 3,. Shimini Atzeres October 4, Simchas Torah October 5,Chesvan (October 23), Kislev (November 22),Tevet (December 22) (months of correct eating, laughter, speaking, thought, movement, seeing, hearing, action, feeling, smell, relaxation, judgement) tribes of Asher (Psalm 100 ), Naphtali (Psalm 98) Judah (Psalm 92),Issachar (Psalm 95), Zebulun (Psalm 96), Reuben (Psalm 90), Simeon, Gad (Psalm 94), Ephraim (Psalm 97), Menashah (Psalm 97) , Benjamin (Psalm 93), Dan (Psalm 99))

[According to Jewish tradition, Moses gave the eleven psalms 90-100 to eleven of the tribes of Israel., the tribe of Simeon was excluded because of the events in Numbers 25-1:15. Psalm 91 was given to the tribe of Levi. Psalms 95 to 99 have been called the “Coronation Psalms” and are used in the Jewish Saturday Morning Kabbala Shabbat service. For some Baptist Christian Hymns related to the Messianic age see “The Coronation Hymnal”, by A.J. Gordon and A.T. Pierson, Revell and Co., N.Y., Boston, Chicago.( which is now out of print, but copies are available in several University
libraries)

Irish Prayer and Blessing
“May the road rise up to meet you, May the wind be always at your back.
May the Sun(Son) shine warm on your face, And the rain fall soft upon your fields.
And May God hold you in palm of his hands.”
(Until we talk and pray together again and he blesses you again through us)

Know that wherever I am and God is, God’s Son (Jesus Christ) is! And, we know that wherever I am and God (Christ Jesus) is, and I am who I am are, God (the Holy Spirit) is! So, then...
May the Light of Jesus Christ surround you ...
May the Love of God Our Father give you his highest blessing (that of the knowledge of his/our blessed peace that comes from the wholehearted obedience to the Words of Our Father in Heaven in US and sincere and compassionate participation in the imaginative unfolding of God's eternally restful and creative mind). May God guide you towards the final completion and fulfillment of his wise plans for all of us...
May the Power (good will) of Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus protect and defend you and give you spiritual understanding and joy.
(through knowledge of the certain truth in the Holy Spirit of his omnipresent, eternal Word, and his good name)
May the Presence (knowledge, wisdom, meritorious and graceful blessings) of God over-watch you as you go about your work.
(go before you, save you and help you... follow you, sanctify and redeem you.)
May the Power (renewed good will) of our director of the angels of God’s good name (the Lord God of Hosts) protect all of us who serve those who serve God and may
the Divine Love and Light of the incarnated, healing Jesus enfold and surround the souls of us all as we dwell together forever.

Jewish and Christian Blessing
“May the eternal light and good energy in the Lord Bless you, protect you, and keep you,
May he lift up his face upon you while being gracious unto you,
May he uphold you and that which you value, and give you peace. ”

Some thoughts for Veteran’s Day 11/11/07 and Thanksgiving Day 11/22/07


Limestone graveled mountain road going down about 12 miles into the Copper Canyon area. It leads through the small Tarahumara Indian villages of La Bufa, Cerro Colorado, the gold mining town of Batopilas, the side canyons and sparkling pools of the Rio Batopilas. Also there is a Spanish mission next to a 400 year old “lost Jesuit Cathedral of Satevo”. The view is from higher up in Central Mexico (Chihuahua State) down to the river flowing through the lower canyon area.
3000’ foot drop, elevation at canyon bottom about 1640’
Christmas vacation 2005-2006

How do we deal with a situation when those who ask for our help and whom we trust don’t reciprocate?

Jesus Christ said to Saint Andrew, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain, it never becomes more, but lives] by itself alone. But, if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.”

God said to Moses:
“Go down Man of God, speak for me,set my people free.”

(be faithful to those of us that uphold God’s truth by taking responsibility for not accepting the way things are when those around us do not keep their words*)


 sometimes the best way to do this is through our own actions, sometimes we have done all we can and we must give up all our hard work over a long time and walk away from situations and depend on God and the good consciences of all of us.




Indian man, near Creel Mexico in the state of Chihuahua, taking his wife to town along a dirt road.
Elevation about 7668’
bicyling trip Christmas vacation 2005-2006.


The love of Christ and the fear of God is our mindfulness,
Hearing the Word of God and following his or her will is our breathing,
There is a Holy Spirit in our body and our blood, a complete fullness made up of an invisible faithfulness and truthfulness which works with God’s help in harmony, through fellowship and trust, with all believers in his Son Jesus Christ’s good name.

Daily Mindfulness Teaching for the One Human Holy Spirit who is God’s Son, Christ Jesus(a poem written to tie us all in love and trust, for as long as we are true to God and he to us)

Awareness and faithfulness~ are reflections of two truths*.
Truth is a heart that listens** and is faithful and aware,
Along with a mind that believes what is right for all of us.

Goodness~~ is a heart that loves and gives
Beauty is a reflection of what is good
And a mind that is open***.

~ God is a mind that is and knows no limits (is faithful toward our hopes and prayers) yet still is what he or she or it is (aware) until that knowledge blossoms (becomes true) in us.
~~ Jesus Christ is he or she who is the Prince of Peace, heals and saves us all (being what we need him to be in order to do this) and sanctifies the name of God. God has no Son or Daughter but him or her.
* or alternatively, toward two truths. “Jesus said, One person cannot ride two horses at once, nor stretch two bows, nor can a man serve two masters, as he will respect one and despise the other. “ The Gospel of Thomas, verse 47 op. cit. Also he said,
“Do not let your left hand know what your right is doing.” Op. cit. verse 62. So, this said, if we are aware of our own shortfalls in this area and ask God for help. it is possible for the Holy Spirit and thus God in all of us to do all of this for all of our benefit. “Jesus said, If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, ‘Move from here!’ and it will move.” Gospel of Thomas, verse 48, op cit.


** the Holy Spirit is a heart that listens, eyes and ears that see and hear what is good, a mouth that speaks what is true, and strong arms and legs that lift up the fallen, walks with them and leads them in the right direction.
*** To say that it is a reflection means it does not have an independently existing self. Two reflections can be an image (perceptive reflection) and a likeness (conceptual reflection)making up the soul and the spirit of a human being. So, a reflection may or may not be a part of an independently existing object or person. For instance, the heavens and the skies are beautiful. But, so can be a person, a woman for example. As Dr. Immanual Kant has said in his section distinguishing the transcendental logic into a transcendental analytic and a transcendental dialectic... ,"the conceptions of pure reason are not obtained by reflection...but by inference and conclusion." The Critique of Pure Reason, Great Books # 42 edited by Dr. Mortimer Adler page 112. Another definition of beauty is needed in this case. Consider, “Beauty is controlled grace” a definition due to Leonardo da Vinci. This builds on the term grace which is sometimes defined as “Love that gives”. Also, I believe beauty may be due to an essential symmetry or a basic economy of expression in a humanly constructed definition containing a creative seed of truth or knowledge that can expand on itself growing into a material, psychological entity or living being (yet start over from the beginning or some midpoint along its path and reproduce itself if necessary). Mathematical proofs, a set of physical concepts and axioms or a well written and designed computer program can fall in this category. These three or four examples and definitions of beauty seem to me to fit well together into a shared human linguistic environment and belong to a common semantics or context that I commend unto you as part of a larger set of metaphysical definitions of heavenly terms. See previous blog for more on this.




Indian girl near waterfall on the rushing Cusarare River
Chihuaha District, Sierra Madre mountains in central Mexico
Elevation about 7220’
Hiking and bicyling trip Christmas vacation 2005-2006

This is the first part of an unpublished paper which fell into the earth back in 1974. At that time aprevailing opinion among academic philosophers was that idealism can hurt the innocent and that there was no such thing as a “Concept of a Concept.”
Now, 33 years later it seems, in the light of new discoveries in the philosophy of science and religion to be a good time to share it with others. Its topic for discussion is aimed to try to understand the transcendental idealistic epistemology (philosophy of knowledge) of Immanuel Kant.

"Do not lie to one another...but clothe yourselves with a new self...which is ever in the process of being renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon]knowledge after the image (the likeness) of him who created it." St. Paul Colossians 3

"Let not mercy and kindness forsake you...write them on the tablet on your heart." Proverbs of King Solomon, chapter 3

"And, God said, Let US[the Elohim Gods as US inside of the Father,the Son, and the Holy Spirit part of God inside of US] create [make] them [mankind] after Our image, after Our likeness, and let them [God in US reflected back as humankind in US] be free [have complete authority over the rest of creation]."

"And Jesus increased in wisdom (in patience, fear and honor of the Lord, peacefulness, trust and obedience and knowledge of him)in stature (depth of personality, character and strength) and years, and in favor with God and man." Gospel of Luke chapter 3 verse 52



Dr. Reinhold Neibuhr, a liberal realist, has said, “forgiveness is the final form of love.” And,”knowing this is our salvation.” But, suppose you believe that knowing that the final form of love is forgiveness is our salvation. Then you have to believe that this knowledge is not the end. There must be something(knowledge…life) afterward. Faith and hope are an important (in fact) interdependent part of love. In addition to hope faith can be a transforming power of God inside of our souls. All three of these wonderful ideas or concepts exist for us, with God’s help. In a non-temporal transcendental ideal part of the present moment. This being so, then, for those who have faith and hope in it, there must be such a thing as a concept of concept. What is it then?



Concept of a Concept
Part I

First definition of a concept....

--concepts form the meaning of meaningful words;
--concepts, smaller than a judgement, larger than a sense impression are units of thought;
--well-defined relationships between concepts are themselves concepts.

But beyond this, it is possible to list in more detail the most important ways concepts work for us.

With development of appropriate practical backing they:

--Define object precisely, for our future reference and mutual communication;
--Abstract what different recurring experiences have in common, saving us effort in the way we describe things;
--Make us able to imagine things, thinking about what isn't present;
--Spur problem solving, breaking us out of areas of mental confinement;
--Cue discoveries, the bright ideas we need to stimulate us forward;
--Help us learn how something works, and to remember what we have learned;
--Increase our understanding, making it easier to form still more concepts.

Stating a judgement involves conepts. Also, in making some decisions, we go through a process of trials and errors performed mentally, before reaching a decision. Concepts make this "idea testing" possible.

Even more fundamental than all this, is the way in which concepts develop our first perceptions of the world. Some everyday examples of how concepts do this include:

--the permanancy of concret objects;
--the switchboard of three-dimensional space;
--which way is [up] and right-handedness;
--the rules of logical thought.

II

Here are some objections, straight from Plato's dialogues, to studying concepts for their own sake:

The first comes from the dialogue of Socrates with Meno:

MENO. But how will you look for something when you don't in in the least know what it is? How on earth are you going to set up something you don't know as the object of your search? To put it another way, even if you come up right against it, how will you know that what you have found is the thing you didn't know?

Indeed. And, this can be followed up with a second, more specific, objection to studying concepts and though processes: It is held that the study of the method of thought for its own sake is of no use, except when almost superfluous. In otherwords, isn't it ridiculous to separate the study of thought from the day to day problems which we use if for?

Plato, stated this in his Socratic dialogue Charmides:

SOCRATES. And if a man know only, and has only knowledge of knowledge, and no further knowledge of health and justice, the probability is that he will only know that he knows something, and has a certain knowledge, whether concerning himself or other men.
CRITIAS. True.
SOCRATES. Then, how will this knowledge or science teach him to know what he knows? Say that he knows health; - not wisdom or temperance, but the art of medicine has taught it to him; - and he has learned harmony from the art of music, and building, from the art of building - neither, from wisdom or temperance: and the same of other things.
CRITIAS. That is evident.

Well, we won't try to hide it: in contrast to these carefully worded sentences, the rest of this section of this book will list instances in which the study of thought processes has value to us - instance in which it has a very real value.


All along it must be kept in mind that steps forward in knowledge proceed awkwardly. The initial coneption of a new discovery always has many details that are wrong. Socrates takes a critical position in those two quotations. But, he later states that for his part the desire to know what is good (not necessarily the actual knowledge itself) is the most important thing. The sum of what we don't know is so vast -- we will never get anywhere without a lot of pure desire to step beyond what we don't know with what we aren't sure of. There is no way to obtain knowledge without making mistakes and blunders. There is no roal road to any difficult art or skill.

WE SUMMARIZE: Our progress will depend on how important we conclude that it is to try to do what we aren't sure of; what we don't seem capable of; what we haven't been prepared for; and to what extent the theory that we do construct being built on hard-learned experience, does not outdistance our capability to produce results.


III

Not attempting to formulate any new principles, we will work with familiar ideas, elaborating them, the method can be called the study of concepts through concepts. Lets lay this technique out in part before hand:


.... We trace out the definition of a lessor known concept by recognizing in it the same elements as are present in a better known concept. In literature this method is used in the form of metaphors and similies. In ordinary speech it is the method of analogies.

....Since we are actually hunting concepts, we can bring one out in the open, so to speak, by asking questions about. These questions will expose what dols the concept together.

.... By seeking out those elements in concepts that constantly reoccur, we obtain the most economical description of them.

.... We wait for it (the work) to mature; repeatedly changing its presentation, searching for the best presentation of what [seems] profound; convinced that simple and elegant solutions are the shortest distance between two points. The work will be the product of many months, even years, of stubborn thinking and the subject of pride.


In the dialogue Theatetus, Plato first considers the claim of sense impressions (by themselves) to be knowledge. A rational argument is then given to discount this possibility. It is asked how false judgements are possible under these circumstance. A model is given that compares this to sense impressions not fitting the patterns in wax formed by objects. Then examples of false judgements are given which don’t fit into this paradigm of knowledge.
Then the possibility of true belief being knowledge is considered. First “having” knowledge is compared to holding birds (ideas) in cages in our minds. The cages are the truths of experience which constrain statements we can make about the ideas. In this situation it is argued that it is possible to make false judgements when we depend on these cages to interprete our factual
experience. An example of a lawyer twisting the facts of a case to make the jury come to the wrong conclusion is given.
Finally a definition for knowledge is given which is somewhat better. Knowledge is said to be true belief along with an account or logos. This account justifies our thoughts by making a sound (based on sense impresssions) rational argument about the experiences we have had. In order words we are saying that in some sense knowledge is “assured belief”. Here we see the importance of having a logos about God if we are to hope to be able to know him.
However, the limitation of even this definition of knowledge is explained further on in the dialogue. If an account is a rational logical demonstration (two different methodological approachs to do this will be explained later in this discussion), it must start with certain “unknowable”, “first order facts”. This is because we have already declared knowledge based on objects ( or sense impressions) not be knowledge by themselves. But any argument will then just be a series of rational exercises (tautologies) which come to no new conclusions about these unknowable starting points. The conclusions cannot be new because they cannot
be any more knowable or true than what we started with.
It wasn’t until Immanuel Kant that human philosophy explained how it was possible to have synthetic a priori truths. It we assume we humans have certain abilities (what Jesus called talents) in our minds Then, by postulating the truth of these God given abilities the truth of these postulates themselves can
be determined and influenced by the way we perceive reality. The objects that Plato called unknowable in themselves are this way because we don’t have access to studying their true nature. This is because they are in a sense outside of us. But our postulates about what is inside our selves are accessible through our subjective intuitive and common sense minds. So these talents can be good
starting points along with our experience about the World they can help form knowledge when we have a logos (or account of the connection between what has happened to us and what situation we started with). They then form an innate nature common to all of humankind.


IV

THE MIND AS A SWITCHING YARD----PASCAL "ONE MUST

SUBSTITUTE DEFINITION FOR THE DEFINED."


Names are associated with objects; so are their meaning. But an objects's name can be one the tip of the tongue when a corresponding meaning isn't: how else do we know sounds when we hear them, or other things when we see them. The answer is that our mind automatically deals with things by sorting them into pre-established groups. We have, in our mind, a switching yard. If we want to know what a song or anything else is, we must ask ourselves question about the mental defintion of it. It will be helpful to discuss the nature of this mental switching yard, in order to understand how to ask these questions.



Suppose that pieces of information start off in the mind like freight cars start at the high point in a railroad switching yard:

-- They coast down the hill; switches guide each one into its proper siding. There the cars wait, with others of the same destination to be sent to form a train [ see classification type expert system which is defined below];

-- Each time we send a "new" object rolling down the hill, new switches are added, and the network becomes better at sorting out information;

-- As we look at a scene of things in front of us, the mind couples thought onto the corresponding parts of the scene -- and all of a sudden, what isn't a blur, is a series of meaningful images moving through the mind [ see backward oriented reasoning as defined below].

In a freightyard the starting points of the cars is on a hill. But, before getting to the bottom of the tracks the cars may reach resting places. To get out of these resting places often requires some extra help [see genetic algorithm as defined below]. This is the case if there are substantial depressions in the ground: or it may be that only a little push is needed; if they, (the thoughts) are stuck on a rise in the ground level.

As images come through the mind to be sorted into concepts, they too reach resting places. These are resting places in the switchboard of the mind, speaking figuratively. If the route doesn't take us the full distance (does not give us enough understanding), there may be valleys; and in this case the help of other concepts needs to be introduced (more new switches added- things we haven't classified yet). There may be rises. In this case we just need to reflect on the situation. We must conciously give the cars a little push in our mind.

It is possible to push this metaphor too far. But it does provide the means to understand the quotation at the beginning of the section. The quotation in French is "Substitutuer mentalement les definition a'la place des definis". this means "Substitute mentally the defining facts for the defining terms".

Faced with a problem, not sure how to solve it, there is a reason for much of the uncertainity that occurs. We often fail to spell out the meaning of the ideas involved in the problem. This is when we should go back [see examples below] to the definitions of the ideas that we have in our minds:

-- Since the switching patterns branch out as they get more specific; our questions go from the general to the particular, the identification process quickly sorts one thing out of myriads of possiblities;

-- The "unknowns" in the problem are interpreted in terms of the conditions and data that are given; new connections are formed mentally; we see things clearer and in a concious sense;

-- By varying the conditions of the problem, the mind searches for a related problem that it has solved before; the general idea of a solution emerges; patiently, the problem solver waits until all the troubling points are dealt with, to insure that all the information is accounted for.


Second definition of a concept----

A concept is a rule that may be used to decide if a object falls in a certain group. It is an abstract way of grouping thoughts. It deals with the information associated with the object of thought by asking questions about it. This may be a simple process like the way we classify concrete objects by the "marks" of sense impressions: such as physical size or texture (this process is instinctual in simplier animals). Or it may be a more complicated process using a lot of other concepts.

October 4,2007
Be still and know* that:

“Before Moses I AM**, and before Moses Our God who created wisdom and understanding in Moses and helped heal Miriam is"
"Before Isaac I AM, and before Isaac Our God who created love and truth in Isaac and helped him bless Jacob and his Sons is"
"Before Noah I AM, and before Noah Our God who created goodness and beauty in Noah and walks with him Jesus Christ, you and I in righteousness and faith,... is."
"Before Adam I AM, and before Adam Our God that created and blessed humankind is."
Be still and know that: "He now still is, will be and so ever will be and art.”
“For, wherever I am and God is, and I am who I am is, God is.”

* recognize, imagine, depend on...take refuge in, become aware of and blessed by his loving kindness...strength...patience...obedience...righteousness...majesty, understand.
** according to Psalm 46 the person referred to here is the Lord God of Hosts, the instructor of Abraham and Isaac, the refuge of Jacob, Moses, Joshua...He whose name itself is a refuge and is high and lifted up...being three times Holy.

Now, we are also praying, “Only the best for Our Prayer Group YHWH School of Christianity.” “This includes the World, God and you and I.”

May God richly, heartily bless the spirits and souls of each of you in us and with us for a good 2007-2008 Christian-Jewish year.

Two views of the Mountains above the Lake O’Hara region in Alberta, CANADA.
The first one shows the top Mt. Victoria, then to the right Mt. Huber and the Abbott’s Pass Glacier. Abbott's Pass leads, on the other side of the mountains, to the Lake Louise Caroline (Queen Victoria's daughter) area.
The view in the set, in the third frame below shows the area to the left of Mt. Victoria which includes Cathedral mtn. and the top part of Lake O’Hara.







you may click on above image to enlarge in your browser



Four more views (clockwise this time) of the mountains above the Lake O’Hara region in Alberta, CANADA.
They were taken from the top of the little O’daray peak . From upper left clockwise
1) the area to the right of Mt. Huber and Abbott’s pass,
2) the Selkirk Mts,
3) the Bugaboo mtns in the background, and
4) a twin peak to the right of the O'darays.


Our Prayer Group YHWH School of Christianity teaching explaining 39 ways God’s divine order of biblical creation in 1st chapter of the book of Genesis helps us and the present moment Elohim God [Gods] of Our Prayer Group YHWH School of Christianity create the world with Hebrew words:

Each line lists from left to right, 1) # of occurances of this Hebrew word in chapter 1, 2) the Hebrew word
3) a new theological translation of it, 4) verse numbers from Chapter 1 where it occurs

4---bara---creation through contemplative thought---1,21,23,27
1---r’dot---she moved the spirit of God in it and us--- 2
10---v’omer---and he said---3,6,9,22,25,20,24,26,28,29
6---v'yar'ah---and they saw that it was good[fixed in its own purpose]---4,10,12,18,21,25
3---v’yabh’dayl---and he distinguished [through discriminative understanding]---4,7,14
3---v’yeek’ra---and she called [named as a meaningful word]---5,8,10
6---v’yaysh---and he made[turned the truth of the key of its realization inside of its real eternal substance]---7,11,13,16,25,26
2---v’yabheerehch---and she blessed [brought into our awareness]---22,24
1---v’yatayn---and put [gave,placed]---17
1---n’tz’l’mu---he made in the image---27
2---totzaya---she brought out [facilitated ]---12,24

Note: wherever "v" [corresponding to the English word and], eg. v’yar’[he saw] appears it means the creation is occurring through means of God’s eternal light and life emanating into the lower earthly and human realms. And, it means this particular kind of spiritual light is being distinguished here in this part of the Bible from his/her light and life as it emanates into the upper heavens in other parts of the Bible.
Also, at this point, a matter related to the Jewish oral tradition of prohibiting any alteration of the Torah needs to be discussed:
These translations are different than the usual ones. The normal translation of what has already been written does not divide the work between he and she. At his/her highest, and at his/her beginning in us God is one person and one name, not two people acting together. But, as discussed in an earlier blog, it can be helpful to meditate on his truth, her truth as it grows inside of us by considering it a correspondence between what is and what is. This is supported by another part of the Jewish tradition which teaches it takes two persons along with God...1) a dreamer and 2) an interpreter for a dream to come true. Also, there are the following rules of interpretation of the Torah (by the rabbi Ismael, some would say the rabbi who is our rabbi Ismael...) which support this:
(the numbers to the left and before the logical statements refer to his 13 rules for elucidation of the Torah which are accepted by most Jews)
2) the female and male conjugations being part of similar[the same word] clarify it [the word] in a different context.
4), 5) , 12), 13) the female being made out of the rib of the male by a a general statement of God and is therefore a specification of his words and equally able to speak for the general context of them, to single out something for discussion which was not similar to the general category, a limitation of the context of it,
Moreover, the female teachers of the Torah being allowed to help the male teachers in this way they will be able to increase the elucidations of the context for all of us, or as a third party to reconcile the context.
Moreover, to no lesser a degree we have been given the verses below from the teaching of Jesus Christ and the prophet Isaiah:


“Wherever two or three of you come together in my name, I am [I am who I am] there.“

“Go[come] through the gates and cast ye up. Cast ye up, clear the way, take the stumbling block out of the way of My people. For thus saith the Lord God of Hosts the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is three times Holy.” Isaiah 62:10 This is a verse which is part of many Jewish High Holy Day Prayerbooks.

These verses along with the affirmation, along with one the Lord God of Hosts has given his archangel Gabriel to keep in mind. “What’s not on the up and up, is not up.”

Neatly sum up how I believe God wants the top part of his name to manifest itself in us.

“Upon what were the foundation of it fastened, who laid its cornerstone?” Job 38:6

“I have laid a precious cornerstone of truth [sure foundation] in Zion.” Isaiah 28:16
Psalm 118:22, Jermiah 30:21

Here are some very precise, very good and very beautiful verses in Hebrew related to those above:

“And, Elohim put them [the sun and the moon] in the expanse of the heavens.”
Genesis 1:17

“Va’yatayn atam Elohim bheeroqay hashamaym.”
Below some are the rest of the verses connected to this verse and which expand on it.

1st saying of the 1st day

In the beginning God created (through concentrated thought with contemplation and insight) the heavens, making use of the eternal light coming down from the crown on his head as wisdom and understanding in his soul.”

“B’rayshayt bara Elohim.” Genesis 1:1

2nd saying of the 1st day

“And Elohim said, “Let there be eternal light [from above], and there was eternal light [below].” Genesis 1:3

“Yeehay Or v’yeehay Or.”



Lake McArthur, mountain lake next to Lake O'Hara


3rd saying of Elohim God, the 1st of the 2nd day

“Let there be an expanse in the midst of [between] the heavens, and let it divide between the waters there[here].” Genesis 1:6

“Y’hay rakay bh’tof h’maym v’yhay m’beedayl bayn mayem v ‘m’ayem.”

4th saying of Elohim God [1st of the third day]

“Let the waters be gathered underneath the heavens in a place of oneness [for uniqueness and goodness to dwell]
So dry land [faith in earthly things in us] may appear.” Genesis 1:9

“Yekavo h’maym meetachayt h’shaym ehl Makom ehchad v’teerehh h’bhshah.”

5th saying of Elohim God 2nd of the third day:

“May there be vegetation along with vegetation on the earth in us{alt. et the earth be covered with vegetation], may herbs be there…seeds along with seeds… producing seed, fruit trees producing fruit [making] each from its kind as its seed enters the earth inside of us.” Genesis 1:11

6th saying of Elohim God 1st of the fourth day:

“Tar’shay h’araytz dhshay ashehv maz’raytz zeerah ahtz bhoray aeesheh bhoray l’manu ashehr zer’au.”

“ Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to distinguish between the day and between the night and they shall be markers for the holy festivals and for days and for years.”

“Yeehay m’orot bheer’kay h’shamaym l’habh’rayl bayn h’yom v’bayn h’laylah v’havu lotot v’moadaym v’laymaym v’shanaym.”
Genesis 1:6-12

And, finally:

“And, Elohim put them [the sun and the moon] in the expanse of the heavens.”
Genesis 1:17

“Va’yatayn atam Elohim bheeroqay hashamaym.”

parable about three different ways or perspectives that God’s eternal light manifests itself inside of us in heaven and on earth


Parable about who is right, the King or the courtiers

There was once a wise and good King who lived in a Kingdom which at the same time was far away from us…and yet very near . And, this King had a group of courtiers who always had and always will vie for his attention and favours. And one day one of the courtiers said to the King…come visit your people in our churchs, synagogues,temples and mosques (the Kingdom of heaven on earth) and it will be very well for all of us. Also, please bring your Son along. But, the King thought about it and said, “No, I have another Kingdom (the Kingdom of Heaven of our spirits and souls inside of the human heart) that is far above us in the sky, but also very near. If you cannot find God inside of the human heart, you cannot find him anywhere. But, if you can find him there you can find him anywhere. So, it is better for you to come visit me there and then it will be very well for all of us, and not just some. So, they said alright we will do this. But, they did not. For the courtiers thought about it awhile and decided it was better for them to stay in their homes, churchs, synagogues, and mosques and keep asking the King to visit them there. They met together and thought they could outsmart the King. Thinking it would shame him, they held a banquet for the benefit of the whole Kingdom but did not invite him. So when they saw him again they asked him, “When will you be visiting us in our home?” But, the King said instead to them, “I visited you some time ago. But, recently we were talking and I invited you for a visit and you said that you would come but you did not. Isn’t the truth in your words more important to me than feasting with you for the benefit of all of us ”
Now you tell me, Who is like unto that King? Was the King right or the courtiers? And, who is the King in that realm and in us?

In the end, in the sense of how they are related to our everyday goals, our own words matter little compared to what we do during our lives. However,there is an even high judgement than this that we must face. For, at the level of our soul's progress in heaven and the development of its capabilities...knowing that God's truth can manifest itself and participate in the words we speak to each other and ourselves is more important than any deeds we might do in an earthly realm.

So, what is the Truth of the words of the courtiers that the King is speaking about in the above parable?
The Bible gives us two very different explanations about what the truth is that Jesus Christ has left to us in the Gospel according to the Book of John. One explanation is given to his disciple Thomas:
"Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me." John 14:6
The other explanation was given to those who were crucifying and hurting him and whose souls he was trying to save and to help:
"Pilate said to Him, Then You are a King? Jesus answered. You say it [You speak the truth correctly here for at this point it is you who are who I am and am trying to help] For I am a King, This is Iwhy I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the Truth. Everyone who is of the Truth [who is a friend of the Truth] hears and listens to My voice." John 18:37 Amplified Bible with some phrases added to further amplify it by Andrew.
Jesus Christ has said that he is the vine and we are the branches. But, those branches of us in him that promise to keep faith with God and his purposes in any of us, but intentionally don't...in order not to be God...they are committing a sin against the Holy Spirit and can no longer in us or him.
For as I have been told, and so I do believe...
"If your refuse to take up your cross and follow Me, you are not Mine."
"Whosoever finds his [lower worldly]life will lose it [the higher heavenly life], and whoever loses his [lower worldly] life on My account will find it [the higher heavenly life on earth]." The Gospel of Matthew chapter 10
Inotherwords, "When the Bible is right, somebody is wrong."

One View from the Top of Mount President in British Columbia, Canada

(you may click on the above image in your browser to enlarge it)
May 6

Be still and know that Jesus Christ in us is Christ Jesus [and Christ Jesus in us is Jesus Christ].
Seven Thoughts About The Foundation of Our Righteousness
(Yesod)


1st day of the weekly count, 36th day of the omer count
Chesed of Yesod
Watchfulness
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for
They are the children of God.”

2nd day of the weekly count, 37th day of the omer count
Gevurah of Yesod
Zeal
“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst
For righteousness, for they shall find it.”

3rd day of the weekly count, 38th day of the omer count
Tiferet of Yesod
Cleanliness
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find
mercy.”

4th day of the weekly count, 39th day of the omer count
Netzach of Yesod
Separation from the World-
“Blessed are you who are persecuted
for my sake, for great is your reward
In heaven.”

5th day of the weekly count, 40th day of the omer count
Hod of Yesod
Purity--
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.”

6th day of the weekly count, 41st day of the omer count
Yesod of Yesod
Saintliness--
“Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted.”

7th day of the weekly count, 42th day of the omer count
Malkuth of Yesod
Fear of God--
“Blessed are the meek and poor in Spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

St. Paul's beautiful words, which teach us how to pray
for what God wants for all of us to have happen:

"For in this hope we were saved.
But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope.
For how can one hope for what he already sees?
But, if we hope for what is still unseen by us,
we wait for it with patience and compromise.
So, too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up
in our weakness;
for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it
up worthily as we ought,
but the Spirit himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads
in our behalf with unspeakable yearning and groaning too deep
for utterances.
And, He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind
of the [Holy]Spirit [what his intent is],
because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf
of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will [Ps. 139:1,2]

Romans 8:24-26

"Moreover,[let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And, endurance (fortitude) develops character [ approved faith and tried integrity]. And, character produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope [of eternal salvation]. Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us."
Romans 5:3-5

May 13th

Seven Ways We Serve Others
(Malkuth)


1st day of the weekly count, 43rd day of the omer count
Chesed of Malkuth
By generosity:
“Give till it hurts”. Saint Teresa of Calcutta
"Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor;
be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord."
Romans 12:11

2nd day of the weekly count, 44th day of the omer count
Gevurah of Malkuth
By Friendliness:
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
"Contribute to the needs of God's people[sharing
in the necessities of the saints]; pursue the practice
of hospitality."
Romans 12:13

3rd day of the weekly count, 45th day of the omer count
Tiferet of Malkuth
By seeing good in others:
with God’s help,We see the Christ in you.
"[Let your] love be sincere (a real thing)."
Romans 12:9

4th day of the weekly count, 46th day of the omer count
Netzach of Malkuth By standing by our friends:
We will walk with you till the Son of God always shines.
"hate what is evil [ loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror
from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good."
Romans 12:9

"Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing other's joy]
, and weep with those who weep [sharing other's grief]."
Romans 12:15



5th day of the weekly count, 47th day of the omer count
Hod of Malkuth
By loving our enemies:
we are the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World.
"Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude
toward you]; bless and do not curse them."
Romans 12:14
"Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest
and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of
everyone."
Romans 12:17, Proverbs 20:22, II Samuel 16:12

"Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family]
giving precedence and showing honor to one another."
Romans 12:10

6th day of the weekly count, 48th day of the omer count
Yesod of Malkuth
By setting a good example:
we are the holiness of what is holy
Inside of those who are holy.
"Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient
in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer."
Romans 12: 12

7th day of the weekly count, 49th day of the omer count
Malkuth of Malkuth

By taking responsibility
“We are servants of the servants of the Lord.”



Additional Prayers associated with Counting the Omer
( starting with the second day of Pesach and continuing 49 days until Shavuot). This prayer which is said along with the Omer count after Pesach (and on other Holy days) is sometimes called the 42-letter name of God by Orthodox Jews. It is hidden inside of thousand of pages of prayers in several dozen of volumes. However, since we believe that you cannot copyright the name of God , it is included here translated:
"We beg you? With the strength of your right hand's greatness, untie the bundled sins. Accept the joyful prayers of your people, purify us with your awesomeness oneness. Please strong One, guard those who encourage your uniqueness. Bless them, purify them, show them pity, may your righteousness always recompense them. Powerful Holy One, with your plentiful goodness guide us. One and only Exalted One, depend on your nation, which speaks about Your holiness. Accept our prayers, knower of mysteries. Blessed is the Name of His glorious Kingdom forever."
And, just for good measure and the benefit of all of us ...here is an additional , even more ancient transliterated prayer, associated with what is called the 11-letter (11 Hebrew letters that is) name of God, that according to the Torah, the prophet Moses said to ask God for his sister Miriam's healing. " Ayl Na Raphaa... Na Lah." It can be translated as, "Please Lord...please heal her." Please heal the spirit of our lady (the Shekinah, whose body is the Church of all believers) our divine companion whose spirit is surrounded by the souls of four archangels. It comes from some of the first Torah portions in the book of Numbers. Traditionally it is read and prayed as a community in the congregations the 1st Sabbath after Shavuous.
Sometime later after Moses healed Miriam with this prayer, God's Spirit in Moses descended on the prophet Elijah, a Man of God, (the word of the LORD came unto him) and he obeyed it in order to heal a widow who feed him and with whom he sojourned. Then, with God's help, he blessed...resurrected, revived and brought back the soul and spirit and body of her Son to her. "By this she knew that he was a Man of God and that the word of the LORD in his mouth was truth."
1 Kings 17:8-16(17-24).


Prayers for the New Month
During the additional prayer service for Holy days and blessing of the new month some congregations include an intention or supplication. at this point, based on what is called the 22-letter divine name. May it be your will O Lord my God and God of my forefathers that for the sake of your good name you be near me (us) when we call to you…that you listen to our prayers and hear our intentions and pleas at all time as you heard those of Jacob. May you bestow on us generously our food, clothing, and sustenance from beneath your opened hand. May you grant that we find favor, kindness, and mercy in your eyes; just as you granted Joseph, your righteous One, favor, kindness, and mercy and covered him in a beautiful woolen tunic (coat of many colours). May you perform wonders and miracles with me (us), grant me (us) success in our ways and place in our hearts the power of understanding, to understand, and to be wise, and fulfill the words of your Torah's teaching and its mysteries; save us from mistakes and sins, and purify our hearts and thinking for your service. May you lengthen and prolong our days and the days of our families with goodness, sweetness, and an abundance of peace and strength.



Torah Reading
(Seven blessings are required when the Torah and the haf'tarah are read:
one before the Torah reading, one after
one before the haf'tarah reading, four after)

There is none like You among the Gods, Lord, and there is nothing like Your works. Your kingdom is a kingdom for all eternities and Your rule is from generation to generation.
The Lord reigns, the Lord has reigned, the Lord shall reign for all eternity.
The Lord will give strength to his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.

Father of compassion, do good, according to your favor, with Zion, rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
For we trust in You alone, King, God, exalted and uplifted, Lord of Worlds.

Ayn kamoach va'Elohaym, Adonay, v'ayn k'maashehyach. Mal'chot'ach mal'chot kal olameem umehm'shal't'ach b'chal dod vadod.
Adonay melech, Adonay malach, Adonay yeem'loach l'olam vaed.
Adonay oz l'amu yeetayn, Adonay y'varech et amu vashalom.

Av harachmeem, haytayvah veer'tzon'ach et Zion, teev'neh chomot y'rushaleem.
Kay v'ach l'vad batah'nu, melech, ayl ram v'neesha, adon olameem.

When the Ark would travel, Moses would say, 'Arise, Lord, and let Your foes be scattered, let those who hate You flee from Your Presence.' For from Zion will the Torah come forth and the Word of the Lord from Jerushalem. Blessed be He Who gave the Torah to His people Israel in His holiness.

In Him do I trust, and to His glorious and holy Name do I declare praises. May it be Your will that You open my heart to the Torah and that You fulfill the wishes of my heart and the heart of Your entire people Israel for good, for life, and for peace. Amen

Vay'hay been'sa hadon,vay…omer mosheh, komah Adonay v'yafeh…tzo y'veh…yach. v'yaneh..su m'shan'eh…yach meeephaneh…yach. Kay m..tzion taytzay Torah, vd.var Adonay meeJerushala…ym. Varuch shehnatan Torah l'amu Ish.rayl veeq.doshatu.

Bayh ana rachaytz, v'leesh'mayh qadayshaya yakayra ana aymar tush'laym meesh'alayn d'leebay, v'leeba d'chal
amach yeesh'rael l'tav ul'chyan v'leeshalom, amayn.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord, the One and Only.

One is our God, great is our Lord, Holy (on Hoshana rabbah: and awesome), great is our Lord.
(congregation)

Declare the greatness of the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name together.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness, and strength and beauty, and eternity, and glory, for all heaven and earth.
Yours, Lord, is the Kingdom, and the sovereignty over every leader. Exalt the Lord, our God, and vow at His footstool; He is Holy! Exalt the Lord, our God, and vow to His holy mountain; for holy is the Lord our God. (congregation)

May the Father of compassion have mercy on the nation that is borne by Him, and may He remember the covenant of the spiritually mighty. May He rescue our souls form the bad times, and upbraid the evil inclination to leave those borne by Him, graciously make us an eternal remnant, and fulfill our requests in good measure, for salvation and mercy.

Sh'ma Yeesh'rael Adonay Elohay…nu Adonay Echad.

Echad (Hu) Elohay…nu gadol Adonay…nu,

Gad'lu la Adonay etay un'rom'mah sh'mu yach'du.

L'ach Adonay hag'dulah v'hag'vorah, v'hateeph'ehret, v'hanaytzach v'hahod, kay chol vashamyeem uvaarehtz. L'ach Adonay hamam'lachah v'hameet'nashay l'chol l'rash. Rom'mu Adonay Elohaynu
, v'heesh'tachav lahadom rag'laav, qadosh hu. rom'mu Adonay elohaynu v'heesh'tachav l'har qad'shu, Kay qadosh Adonay Eloheaynu.

Av harachmaym hu y'rachaym am amosaym, u'yeez'chor b'rayt aytanaym, v'yatzayl naph'shotay…ynu meen hashaot haraot, v'yeeg'ar v'yay…tzer hara meen han'shoaym, v'yahon ota…nu leeph'laytat olamaym, veeymalay meesh'alotay…ynu b'meedah tavh y'shoah v'rachmaym.

1)
Blessed be the Lord who is to be blessed and who is blessed(already)

Blessed be the Lord, who is blessed for all eternity.

Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the peoples and gave us His Torah. Blessed are You, Lord, Giver of the Torah.

(after the Torah portion is read)


Bar…chu et Adonay ham'vorach (reader)

Baruch Adonay ham'vorach l'olam vaed (congregation)

Baruch atah Adonay Elohay…nu meh..lech holam, aser ba…har ba…nu meekal haolmeem, v'na…tan la…nu et toratu. Baruch atah Adonay, notayn hatorah. (reader )(amayn -- congregation)

2)

Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, Who gave us the Torah of truth and implanted eternal life within us. Blessed are You, Lord, Giver of the Torah.


Baruch atah Adonay Elohay…nu meh…lech haolam, aser na…tan la…nu torat emet, v'chay olam nata b'tochay…nu. Baruch atah Adonay, notayn hatorah. (reader) (amayn --- congregation)

May Shebayrech (prayer for the offering given to satisfy the instructions in the Torah about Holy days. According to tradition, the prayer at this point may also contain intentions and requests for a sick person to be healed or a blessing for auspiciousness, good fortune, and wellness upon a birth or Bar Mitzah)

He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Issac and Jacob—may he bless this entire holy congregation along with all the holy congregations; them, their wives, sons, and daughters and all that is theirs;

May shebayrech aboteynu, Abraham, Issac, v'Yaqov, Hu y'barech et kal hakahal hakadosh hazeh, eem kal q'heelot hak'odesh haym, un'shayhem, ub'nayhem, ub'notayhem, v'kal asher lahem.

3)
Prayer said before the haftarah reading

Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, Who has chosen good prophets and was pleased with their words that were uttered with truth. Blessed are You, Lord, Who chooses the Torah; Moses, His servant, Israel, His nation; and the prophets of truth and righteousness.

Baruch atah Adonay Elohay..nu, mehlech haolam, aser, bahar been'vaym tovaym, v'ratzah, v'rav'rayhehm, hneh…marym, veh…emet, varuch atah Adonay, hvochayr, vatorach uv'msheh av'du, uv'du, uv'ish'rael, amu, uveeh'vay, ha…ehmeht vatzeh..dehk.

Some Ways To Understand The Ten Commandments*
(benefiting from an understanding of truth which involves both mindfulness and faith)



The Ten Commandments

1st and 6th
“I am the Lord thy God who brought you out of the land of Egypt” “You shall not murder”

“A..nokay Adonai Elohehyach hotzaytayach mayehrehtz maytz’ryeem” “Lo teer’tzach”
These two commandments are interconnected on the heavenly level. That is, not to acknowledge that “I am who I am”, (that is, that God is who he is…God is that which is God and yes he is himself or herself) is to kill God metaphysically inside of all of us. This is the fundamental cause of the destruction of our shared divinity with him or her inside of us. On the earthly human level, after it occurs collectively in the heavenly realm, it then translates into the individual and more easily perceivable human level of killing each other.

2nd and 7th “You shall have no other gods in my presence” “You shall not commit adultery”

“Lo yeeh’yeh lach elohaym a’chayrm al phanay” “Lo teen’ach”
A similar order of ethical destruction occurs here when these commandments are not followed. For, when our faith wanders so can the good from us…that God has prepared and planned for us.

Some beliefs which both Christians and Jews can share

We believe in a God who exists everywhere through his own nature and being.

We believe in God our Father more than we believe in any arrangement of his or her
archangels and angels...we believe in God the Holy Spirit more than we believe in any arrangement of Spirit and Truth ( of any arrangement of Boddhisattvas... that is, human knowers of human knowing or knowledge) inside of us.

We believe in him more than any belief in the inerrancy of scriptures that might be written by us to help us understand him or her or the infallibility of any leader anointed by us to represent him or her. (But, we do give honor to and respect the individual dignity of all these representatives of God in us and all these scriptures which are inspired with the Spirit of his and her Truth.)

We believe in a God whose Son is rational and who is in his or her Son and whose Son is in him or her.

We believe in a Holy Spirit in whom there is the Father and the Son... and a Father and the Son in whom there is the Holy Spirit.

We believe in a God who believes in us and the sanctity of our souls and spirits (our names) in him as much as we believe in him and the sanctity of his or her name in us.


3rd and 8th “You shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in a vain oath.” “You shall not steal (kidnap)”

“Lo teesha et shaym Adonai Elohehyach lashv’” “Lo teeg’nov”
All things come to those who keep faith with God’s divine plan and order and trust, honor, praise and remain in him. But, those that grasp after their good and try to lay hold of it illegally before its ready to be given to us will never find it. Note: the literal translation of the Hebrew word teeg’nov is kidnap

And, here also:

4th and 9th “Remember the Sabbath day in order to sanctify it.” “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

“Zachor et yom hashavat l’kad’shu shaysheht” “Lo ta’nehh bh’rayach ayd shakehr”
To rest in the Lord is to learn how to remember how what he has already given us in the past must always be the foundation of the best of what the future (in the present moment then) can hold for us. Note: the Torah does not say here remember the Sabbath day because God has sanctified it…but “remember it in order that we may sanctify it (inside and outside of us). Considering how much good God has already given to us, why then do we need to try and takes someone else’s away from them.

5th and 10th “Honor your father and your mother.” “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, his wife, his servants, his ox, his ass, nor anything that belongs to him”

“ Ckaybayr et abayrach v’et eemehach.” “L’o tayh’mad bhayt rayehach l’o tayh’mad asheht rayehach v’aymatu v’shoru v’chmru v’chol ‘shehr l’rayehach.”
For men and women of God to honor their father and our mother is to honor God in them (us), for without our fathers and mothers we would not have been created with God’s help on this earth. Even the angels sometime envy those souls who are living today in human bodies. But, for them to do this does not honor their spiritual God who created them. A wife (or a husband) along with children and the blessings they bring are certainly some of the most precious things we can have…But, so too, even more so, is our relationship with God and the limitlessness of our faith in the timeliness and sufficiency of his providence for us.







Other arrangements for Meditation of the Ten Commandments

Catholic/ Lutheran


1st “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods”

2nd “You shall not make for yourself an idol.”
3rd “You shall no take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

4th “Remember the Sabbath day.”

5th “Honour your father and your mother.”

6th “You shalt not murder”

7th “You shalt not commit adultery”

8th “You shalt not steal”

9th “You shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

10th “You shalt not covet your neighbor’s wife”





Protestant


1st “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods, You shall not make for yourself an idol.”****
[Isaiah 42:8;48:11]

2nd “You shall no take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

3rd “Remember the Sabbath day.”

4th “Honour your father and your mother.”

5th “You shalt not murder”

6th “You shalt not commit adultery”
[Proverbs 6:25,26;Matthew 5:28;Romans 1:24; Ephesians 5:3]

7th “You shalt not steal”
[Proverbs 11:1;16:8;21:6;22:16;Jer. 17:11;Mal. 3:8]

8th “You shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
[Exodus 23:1;Prov. 19:9;24:28]

9th and 10th “You shalt not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s hourse.”
[Luke 13:15;Dol. 3:5]

)

****This commandment is sometimes stated as “You shall have no other God beside me”. Also, some Jews have said that because of this commandment it is impossible for Jews to practice or believe in Christianity. I do not agree with this. God is One. This is certainly true. But, when we say this if we mean to say that God being One himself, he is not also One with his Only Son Jesus…then God, the moment we say this, becomes no longer just One himself…but much more (another, also, two in fact). Jesus Christ has said that the time will come when we, his students, will worship God together with him in Spirit and in Truth. To worship God as One is to worship him in Spirit. To worship God as Truth is to worship him as a correspondence between what is and what is. When many more Jews and Christians come to realize this then the abode of God will be with men here on earth [Rev. 21:3-4, Ezekiel 37:27, Isa. 25:8;35:10] and he will live among them as truth to and from truth and they shall be his people dwelling in his Holy Spirit receiving from and giving to each other as to and from his love.



4)

After it is read the following blessings are recited:

Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, Rock of all eternites, Righteous in all generations, the trustworthy God, Who say and does, Who speaks and fulfills, all of Whose words are true and righteous. Trustworthy are You Lord, our God, and trustworthy are Your words, not one of Your words is turned back to its origin unfulfilled, for You are God, trustworthy and compassionate King. Blessed are You, Lord, the God Whos is trustworthy in all His words.


Baruch atah Adonay Elohay..nu mehlech haolam, tzor kal haolamaym, tzadaq b'cal hadorot, hayl hanehman haomayr v'asheh, ham'dabayr um'kaym, shekal d'varav emet vatzehdehq. Nehman atah hu Adonay Elohay…nu v'nehmanaym d'vareh…yach v'davar echad md'vareh..yach achor lo yashov rayqam, kay ayl meh..lech nehman v'rachman atah. Baruch atah Adonay, hayl haneman b'chal d'varav.

5)

Have mercy on Zion for it is the source of our life; to the one who is deeply humiliated bring salvation speedily, in our days. Blessed are You, Lord, Who gladdens Zion through her children.

Rachaym al tzion kay hay bayt chay…nu, v'laal'ovat neh…phesh toshay… beem'hayrah v'yamay…nu. Baruch atah Adonay, m'shamay…ach tzion b'vnay..yach.

6)

Gladden us, Lord, our God, with Elijah the prophet and Joshua the high priest, your servants, and with the kingdom of the House of David, Your anointed, may he come speedily and cause our heart to exult. On his throne let no stranger sit nor let others continue to inherit his honor, for by Your Holy Name Your swore to him that his lamp will not be extinguished forever and ever. Blessed are You, Lord, Shield of David.


Sham'chay…nu Adonay Elohay…nu b'Elija…hu v'Jehoshua Cohen Gadol hanaveem av'deh…ach, uv'mal'chot bayt David m'shaycheh…ach, beem'hayrah yavo v'yagayl leebay…nu, al kees'u lo yay…shehv zar v'lo yeen'chalu od achayraym et k'vodu, kay v'shaym qad'sh'ach neesh'vay…ta lo, shel yeec'beh nayru lolam vaed. Baruch atah Adonay, magayn David (congregation says amen)

7)
For the Torah reading, for the prayer service, for the reading from the Prophets and for this Sabbath day that You, Lord, our God, have given us for holiness and contnentment, for glory and for splendor---for all this, Lord, our God, we gratefully thank You and bless You. May Your Name be blessed by the mouth of all the living always, for all eternity. Blessed are You, Lord, Who sanctifies the Sabbath


Al hatorah, v'al havodah, v'al han'vaym, v'al yom hashabat hazeh, shehnata…ta la…nu Adonay Elohaynu, leeq'dushah v'leem'nochah, lchavod ul'teeph'a…ret. Al hakol Adonay Elohayn..nu an'chanu modaym laf, um'varcaym otach, yeet'barach sheem'ach b'phay kal chay tamayd l'olam vaed Baruch atah Adonay, m'qadaysh hashabat. (congregation says amen)

May Shehbayrach

He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Issac and Jacob—may he bless this entire holy congregation along with all the holy congregations; them, their wives, sons, and daughters and all that is theirs; May the Holy One, blessed is He, pay their reward and remove from them every affliction, heal their entire body and forgive their every iniquity, and send blessing and success to all their handiwork, along with all Israel, their brethren. And, let us say Amen.


May shebayrech aboteynu, Abraham, Issac, v'Yaqov, Hu y'barech et kal hakahal hakadosh hazeh, eem kal q'heelot hak'odesh. Haym, un'shayhem, ub'nayhem, ub'notayhem, v'kal asher lahem. Hakodosh baruch Hu y'shalaym sh'charam, v'yasayr mayhaym kal mach'lah, v'yeer'pha lchal gofam, v'yees'lach lachal onam, v'yeesh'lach baruch b'hatz'lachah b'chal mashaych y'dayhehm, eem kal Israel achayhehm b'namar amen.



On returning the Torah to the Ark, the cantor says:

Let them praise the Name of the Lord, for His Name alone will have been exalted.

Y'hal'lu et Shaym Adonay, kay neesh'gav sh'mu l'vdu

the congregation responds:

His glory is above earth and heaven. And He will have exalted the pride of His people, causing praise for all His devout ones, for the Children of Israel, His intimate people. Halleluyah.


Hodu al eh…retz b'shama…yeem. Vaya…rehm qeh…ren l'amu, t'haylah lchal chasayrav, leev'nay Israel am q'rovu, hal'loyah.


Some Numerical Calculations Concerning the Age of God’s Only Son in all of us

A Lotus of Happiness and a Tree of Eternal Life
For all Those Praying with the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, Virginia Harrell, Alma May Calohan, William Monroe Calohan, William Franklin Calohan,Henry McKnight and
Andrew Harrell



Hail Mary, the Lord is with you.
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
Pray with each of us and all us now...
as you remember with us our faithful past, sharing together a joyful present moment, and expecting a hopeful future.
I am who I am (a lotus of happiness), growing up inside of God’s ocean of compassion inside of all of us.

I am that I am (a tree of eternal life) that God has planted, long ago, deep inside of us.

My roots go through his and her Earth, and Sun and Moon and heavenly stars inside of you.

Grow strong and healthy and fruitful dear tree of eternal life, grow beautiful, joyful, compassionate, kind and loving dear lotus of happiness so we can patiently bear eternal good faith and mindfulness together that benefits us all.


Adam to Shem
(Gen. Chap. 5)
135
105
90
70
65
162
165
187
182
500
___

1661 years

Shem to Abraham
(Gen. Chap 11)
100
35
30
36
30
72
30
29
70

396 years

Biblical Arch. Society estimates that Abraham lived on earth at or around 1800 B.C. +- 100 years
Therefore from Adam to Christ is approximately
1661
396
1800
3857 years

From Christ to us approximately
2007 years

For a total of

5857 +- 100 years

Since the creation of the Olam ( that is, what our Eastern Buddhist and Vedic yogi prayer friends call the tantric world of creation }

By these dates someone could argue, optimistically, that we have at least 17 years before the final judgement (which occurs at or around the year 6000)

If, however, we take my friend Dr. Ballard’s date for the flood at 3500 BC ( which puts Abraham at 2730 B.C., we get a current date of 6794. This would argue that Christ returned to us in AD 1203 (about the time of St. Francis). Another calculation, along the lines set out by Isaac Newton argues for a date of AD 1902 (around the time of the 1st World War).

note added 10/4/2007: since this blog allows you to go back in time and edit your earlier thoughts, I am adding at this point a reference to the calculation done by Archbishop James Usher that according to
the ages in Genesis the World was created in 4004 BC. I have not seen this calculation (it is referred to in the "What the bleep,do we know? Quantum edition DVD, Goldman Meyer films 2004". A clear suggestion that the third coming was 1996 (since 4004 + 1996=6000) follows from it. Thus the consequences, for our theology, come out very close to the one I have done, by the above reasoning.

"Preach, saying, the Kingdom of God is at hand." Matthew 10:9
For the Kingdom of Heaven and a life lived in partnership with God and his Son Jesus of Nazareth is not something which is beyond our reach in the future or the past. But, it is at hand...available in the fullness of time which is the present moment.

If you are a Protestant pre-millenenialist or a post-millenenialist, the above numerical calculations of possible dates of the return of our Lord Christ Jesus to us refers to the final judgement at the third coming. Most post-millenenialist’s believe he has already come for the second time (see en.wikipedia.org’s article on a summary of Christian eschatological differences). My dear relative the Baptist Adoniram Judson Gordon wrote his first book “Ecco Venit” in the 1860s on this subject. It contains many scriptural references and philosophical arguments for the theological position of pre-millenenialism. How am I to characterize the theology contained in the postings in this blog over the last year? It aims to help Christians understand how to practice Judaism and Jews how they can believe in Christianity, and is a kind of post-millenenial non-dominism (see wikipedia.org for an explanation of what theological dominism is).

Two strong arguments which justify it are: 1) It should be self evident to us that God wants to help everyone by his teachings (God’s heavenly kingdom of faith, love, and hope is not just for some, but for everyone).. for as many passages in the scriptures say, He is not a respecter of persons in a way that works against us, but in the way that works for us .Another is, 2)

Question #1 If Jesus Christ were to return to us today would you expect or want the same thing to happen to him as the first (first two times) time?

I hope that you wouldn’t. Because that would be a sin against the Holy Spirit, wouldn’t it? And, why, assuming You or I or the One true Church and the One true Soul of him in us had any choice about, would we to want to have that happen? For some scripture verses related to how we can improve ourselves in this regard see the verses from Romans listed in the last week of the Omer count above. Also, “The Enduement of the Spirit”. This is Chapter V of the book the Ministry of the Spirit by Rev. A. J. Gordon mentioned the paragraph above. It has some helpful teachings related to this (even though its stated theology may contradict some of the self-evident tenets stated above). For a beautifully written book representing an alternative theological viewpoint to that in the Ministry of the Spirit I recommend Henry Drummond’s “City without a Church.”

Moreover, there is another amateur theological question, the answer to which affects how we answer question #1.

Question #2 Do you believe that while he was on the cross, Jesus Christ’s soul went down to hell to help save those souls and spirits living there?

St. Francis clearly believes this, for as he is praying with the Church and us he is saying:

“ O Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace:
Wherever there is darkness, let there be light.
Wherever there is despair, let there be hope.
May I seek not so much to be understood
As to understand… to be loved as to love.
For it is in dying this way,
That our souls and spirits are raised to eternal life.”

And, the writer of the Gospel of John agrees, for he has said that
Jesus Christ is the "Light that shines in the darkness".


The good energy (in addition to the good knowledge of Christ we can receive by faithful study of the scriptures) that we receive as result of our own compassionate, kind actions is an important part of any salvation or healing that God or his Son can effect for us. But, even more than this and more important than this is God’s compassion for and loving kindness for us and our souls and spirits. If we say that Jesus Christ is ministering to us today through the Holy Spirit, the spirit of which comes to us from his Church among us, then how can this compassion, loving kindness, joy, equanimity reach down from the heights of God’s spirit which is hidden inside us throughout the ages into the souls and spirits of those living in the lower realms? Sometimes preaching the Gospel and witnessing it to all the World and being there for those who choose to come for help is not enough. Sometimes Jesus Christ himself has to be the one who represents his Gospel of salvation to us and is the instrument of effecting God’s eternal rest and peace of mind inside of our own hearts and minds. Does this mean that when he does this the same thing is going to happen to him as the first time he did it? I hope not and I hope your faith from what you know about happened to him the first time is what keeps this unnecessary tragedy from reenacting itself inside us again.










A full Kaddish combined with a rabbi's Kaddish for Christians who study the Torah, the Talmud, and the Kabbalah and pray the Amidah*****
(for those who pray it, may it be a sealing, filling, anointing of the Holy Spirit inside of us)

preliminary notes on the transliteration scheme used for this translation of the Kaddish as it compares to the more tranditional Ashkenazi Hebrew to English one:

Ashkenazi English
ei iff ay (iff is a mathematician's shorthand for if and only if)
s iff t
bb iff bh
w iff silent h at end of word
ee iff e or i
v iff b
u iff o

Yit’gadal v’yit’kadash sh’mayh raba.

May (God’s) great name grow sanctified in us

(Amen)

B’alama de b’ra cheer’otayh.

In the world that he created and willed.

V’yam’laych mal’chotayh, b’chayaychon v’b’yomaychon

May he establish this sovereignity in your lifetime and in your days.

vb’chayay d’chal bayt Is’raayl.

And in the lifetimes of all Israel.

B'agala vbhz'man karayv

May these days (that have been foretold) come quickly and soon.

v’am’ru: Amen (here the people say amen)

Y’hay sh’mehh raba m’barach l’olam vl’al’may al’maya.

May his great name be blessed in the universe inside of that which flourishes (or prospers) inside of the flourishing (prosperity)

Yit’barach v’yishtabach v’yitpaar v’yitromam v’yitnashay v’yithadar v’yitalehh v’yithalal sh’mayh d’khuhd’sha b’rayach Hu

(B’rayach Hu – Cong.)

Blessed and praised and glorified and exalted and supported and strengthened and raised up and praised Holy in worshipful song be the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He.
(here the congregation says Blesed be He)

L’ayla meen khal beer’cata v’shayrata tuhsh’bh’chata v’nehchehmata,

Though its well-being flourishes beyond all blessings and songs…praises and consolations.

damayran b’al’ma. Vam’ru: amayn. (amayn-cong.)

That are said where it prospers (or flourishes)…now we say Amen
(here the congregation says amen).

Kabayl b'rachmaym vbh'ratzon et t'pheelatanu.
Accept our prayers with compassion and favor (cong.)

Teet'paybayl tz'lot'hon v'bhaot'hon d'chal bayt Yisrael kadam Abohon day bheeshamay.

May the prayers of all Israel be accepted by their Father in Heaven.

Al Yish’raayl v’al rabbanayn. V’al tal’maydayhon v’al khal tal’mayday tal’maydayhon. Va’ khal man d’as’qayn b’oray’ta, dhay b’at’ra hadayn v’day b’khal atar v’atar.

Upon Israel, upon the teachers, their disciples and all of their disciples and upon all those who engage in the study of Torah, who are here or anywhere else.

Y’heh l’hon vl’chon sh’lama rbha, cheena v’chees’dha v’rach’mayn, v’chayayn adaychayn, vm’zonay r’vaychay, v’phehr’aqana meen k’adam abohon dhay beesh’maya (v’araa). V’am’ru: amayn. (amayn – cong.)

May they and you have abundant peace, grace, kindness, mercy, long life, ample nourishment, and salvation from before their Father who is in heaven (and on earth). Now we say Amen (here the congregation says amen)

Y’hay sh’alma raba meen Sh’maya, v’chayaym (tobaym) alaynu v’al chal Yish’rael v’eem’ru: amayn. (amayn-cong.)

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life(goodness) upon us and upon all Israel. (here the congregation says amen…) amen.

Asehh shalom bheem’romayav, Hu bh’rachamayav y’ashehh shalom alay…yanu v’al chal Yeesh’raayl. V’eem’ru. (amen- cong.)

May He who makes peace in the high heavens, may He, in His compassion, make peace upon us, and upon all Israel. (here the congregation responds amen) Amen.
*****The Kaddish is somewhat of a different prayer than the Kaddosh (some of the Kaddosh prayers are included the April 10 posting of this blog). This posting has the Amidah with its 18 intentions and requests said to God to give us knowledge of him, his Son, his Holy Spirit in us and their will for us for our repentance, forgiveness, redemption, complete healing, a good year, justice for us, peace in and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, answers to our personal intentions, and thankfulness for the nearness of his Son the anointed One, the Christ to us and all Israel during the year. According to tradition the Amidah needs this full Kaddish to come after it for its completion...the earlier blog posting also includes the Baruch shamar v'hayah holam..omayr v'oseh, Baruch Hu (the blessing of the One who acts as well as speaks and by whose speech the world came to be), the Ha El, Et Shem, and Shoken Ad prayers and the Yishtabach which embellish and add to the Kaddosh) The Kaddish blesses God in all directions (10 in fact) inside and outside of the present moment in the world to come on earth and in heaven (above, below, around…past, present, future). Thus when we say it we don’t request a change in our situation only our awareness or mindfulness of our circumstances in it. The Kaddosh blesses God and exalts God in an upwardly direction toward his throne or most high place in the heavenly realms. All study of the Torah, all blessing prayers of the departed souls of those near and dear us can benefit from a Kaddish. And, all prayers in which we request God’s help and providence in more human terms can benefit from a Kaddosh. This prayer is addressed to Christians because there are many complexities and traps involved in learning Judaism as a Christian and I believe this blessing is much needed nowadays to bless, help, and benefit us all together as servants of God. The full Kaddish which contains additional lines requesting Our Father in Heaven to hear and answer the prayers in the Amidah is,by tradition, said at the completion of this service. The rabbi's Kaddish blesses us and our study of the Torah whether we are in Church (Temple or Synagogue) or not. Combining the two eliminates any confusion about whether we, who write these prayers, want all of the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ, who are trying to learn things as they go along, to be answered.

Lag B'Omer May 6, 2007
(33th day of the counting and meditation
about how God's Holy Spirit expresses himself
inside of us from Passover to Shavuos)


Near The Iceland Trail, British Columbia Canada

Hallel ( the Hallel (Psalms 113-118) is chanted at this point. Since the Holy Spirit dwells within the hearts and minds of those who call upon him, it is acceptable to chant these Psalms in your own language. However, considering that Jesus Christ probably prayed and chanted these prayers on Palm Sunday during the days before he was crucified there is also merit in studying the original Hebrew. On Rosh Chodesh and the last six days of Pesach a half Hallel which has the lines of Psalm 115 1-155 and Psalm 116 1-11 omitted is chanted. During Hannukah/Christmas Christian hymns can and should be sung. For example: Joy to the World, Angels we have Heard on High, Hark the Herald Angels Sing go very well with the Hallel)
In the Seder the whole Hallel is divided into two parts and also with respect to the teaching and chanting portions by four cups of wine (which represent the salvation, redemption, sanctification, and justification of our souls). Psalms 113 and 114 come before the ratzah. the motzah, and the Matzah (see the grouping of the 15 Seder steps elsewhere in this blog). These psalms help us remember how God reaches out to the poor and helpless (psalm 113), how the created divine environmental nature is involved in our salvation (psalm 114), After these steps and the maror, the korech, the Shulchan Orech (the meal) and the Afikiman (the Tzafun) the rest of the Barech (the after meal grace with its three portions due to Moses, thanking God for the Exodus. Due to Joshua, thanking him for bringing us into the promised land (fulfilling the justification of our souls and spirits). And, the portion due to David and Solomon (thanking him for the Holy Temple of his presence inside of US) the rest of the Hallel is chanted. These psalms (115,116,117, and 118) come after a portion invoking the help of the prophet Elijah and the Messiah to come against our enemies where a fifth cup of wine is poured. This portion is called the Sh’phach. And, in my opinion, it is better to associate the coming of the Messiah as a blessing for us all together. Therefore we should pray and ask that he bring king love and forgiveness for everyone more than he brings it just for some and retribution and harsh justice for those who are a part of us. Has not Jesus Christ already taught us that our enemies are just the ones that it is most important for our salvation and redemption that we love and forgive?


An original transliteration and translation from the Hebrew of this last part of the Hallel by Andrew as it appears written in “A Passover Haggadah” by Elie Wiesel as the fourteenth step in the Jewish Seder

Selections from some of the prayers of praise in Psalm s 115 and 116

Lo lanu Adonai, lo lanu, kay l’sheem’ach tayn, kavod, ayl chas’d’ach, ayl ameetehach.

Not for us Lord, not for us, but for the sake of the glory and grace in your name, in your loving kindness, and in your truth.

Lamah amru hagoyim, esh na elohayhem bashamayem; kola aser chaphaytz aseh.

Why should the gentile nations say, “Where is our God?”. Our God is in the heavens, and he does what he desires (wills).

Atzbayhehm kehsehf v’zahav, masheeh y’day adom.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of the hands of man.

Peh lahem v’lo y’daybayru, aynayim lahem v’lo yayr’a.

They have mouths, but they cannot talk, eyes but they cannot see.

Az’naym lahem v’lo yaysh’maru af lahem v’lo y’dayhu.

Ears, but they cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell.

Y’dayhem v’lo y’mayshon, rag’layhem v’lo y’halaychu;

They have hands but cannot feel with them, feet which cannot walk;

Lo yeh’gu bheg’ronah ch’mohem y’h’yu ashayhem, chol aser btach bahem.

They cannot make sounds with their throats, their makers, and all who trust in them, shall become like them.

Israel, bh’tach b’Adonai ehz’ram vmageenam hu.

Israel trust in Adonai (Our Lord), He is their help and shield!

Bayt Aharon, bheetachu b’Adonai az’ram v’mageernam Hu.

House of Aharon, trust in Adonai, He is their help and shield!

Y’ray Adonai, bh’’hu Adonai az’ram v’mageenam Hu.

Those that fear the Lord…trust in the Lord (Adonai). He is their help and shield.

Adonai z’charanu y’barayach, y’barayach et bayt Israel, y’barayach et bayt Aharon.

May the Lord remember us and bless us, may He bless the house of Israel, may he bless the house of Aaron.

Y’barach yeer’ay Adonai, hak’tanaym am hag’doleem.

May all those who fear the Lord be blessed, the small and the great.

Y’sayf Adonai alaychehm, alaychehm v’al bh’naychehm.

May the Lord increase his blessings unto you, unto you and your children.

Bh’rochaym atem l’Adonai, asayh shamaym varehtz.

May you be blessed by the Lord who made with his hands heaven and earth.

Hashamaym shamaym l’Adonai, v’aretz natan leebh’nay adam.

The heaven of the heavens is the Lord’s, but the earth he gave to Adam (humankind).

Lo hamayteem y’hallellu Jah, v’lo kal yir’day domah.

The dead do not praise Jah, nor those that sink into silence.

Vaanch’nu n’barach Jah matah v’ad olam; Hallelujah.

But we will bless Jah, now and forever; Hallelujah.

Psalm 116

Ahab’tay kay yesh’ma Adonai et kolay, t’chanunay.

I love it when the Lord hears my call, receiving my appeal .

Kay heetah az’nu lay, vb’yamay ehk’ra.

For he has turned his ear to me, when I called.

Aphaph’unay chehv’lay moeht, vm’tzaray sh’aol m’tza’onay; zerah v‘yagon ehm’tz.

I have been surrounded by bonds of death, and caught in a narrow path of distress; faced by trouble and sorrow.

V’b’shaym Adonai ehk’ra, anah Adonai, mal’tah naph’shay.

I called on the name of the Lord, “Please Lord…save my my soul!”

Chanon Adonai v’tzarayq, v’Elohaynu m’racham.

Gracious is the Lord and righteous…In compassion, He is our God.;

Shamayr ph’taaym Adonay; dal’tay v’lay y’hoshay…

The Lord guards the simple; I was poor and ailing and he saved me.

Shobay nayph’shay leem’nochaychay, kay Adonai gamal alay’chay.

Rest my soul, again, for the Lord has been kind to you.

Chay cheelaytzata naph’shay meemaot, et anaynay meen deem’ah, et rag’lay meedehtay.

For he has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.

Et’halach leeph’nay Adonai, bh’ar’tzot hachayeem.

I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

Haem’n’ay chay adaybayr, anay an’yatay m’od.

I kept faith with what had been spoken..I cried out even.

Anay emayr’tay, kal hadam kzav.

I cried out in my affliction, “All mankind is a liar.”

Mah ashayv l’Adonai kal tag’mol’otay alay. Chos y’shoaot asha, v’b’shaym Adonai ehk’ra.

How shall I repay the Lord for all his blessings? I shall raise the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.

N’deray l’Adonai ashalaym, nehg’dah-na l’chehl amu.

I will redeem my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.

Y’kar bh’aynay Adonai hamaotah lachasaydayy anah Adonai, chay anay eb’dehach, any eb’dehach ben amehtahach;pheet’h’ta l’mosaray.

The death of his faithfully beloved is difficult to the Lord’s eyes. Please, Lord, I am your servant, I am the child of your handmaiden, You have released my bonds.

L’ach ehz’bhach zehvah todah, vb’shaym Adonai ehk’ra.

I will sacrifice to you an offering of thanksgiving and call upon the name of the Lord

N’daray l’Adonai ashalam, nehg’dah-na l’cal amu.

In the presence of all his people I will redeem my vows to the Lord.

Bh’chatz’rot bhayt Adonai, bh’tocaycay Jerushalem: Hallelujah!
In the courts of the House of the Lord in Jerusalem..Halleluah!

Counting the Omer
April 2

Seven Thoughts About Loving Kindness
(Chesed)**
1st day
Chesed of Chesed
Loving kindness is compassionate
and forgiving
(it does not keep a record of wrong)

2nd day
Gevurah of Chesed
Loving kindness is stronger than death
(Song of Songs)

3rd day
Tiferet of Chesed
Loving kindness seeks more to give
than receive. (It is beautiful)

4th day
Netzach of Chesed
Loving kindness is patient
(while having integrity and supporting the rights of others)

5th day
Hod of Chesed
Loving kindness is obedient and submissive
to God’s will (it therefore shares in his glory)

6th day
Yesod of Chesed
Loving kindness rejoices not in wrong
intentions, but in the truth (2 Corinthians)

7th day
Malkuth of Chesed
Loving kindness fears God and does not consider what will happen to itself.
(This is its royalty)

**note: For those who believe we are at many moments of our lives living right now, in the fullness of time in God's heavenly present moment we will return to this topic considering passages from the Book of Romans, Chapter 12, during week seven of our Pentecost/Shavuos this year.

April 9

Seven Thoughts About Goodness and Justice
(Along with Gevurah…strength)

1st day of the weekly count, 8th day of the omer count
Chesed of Gevurah
“The quality of mercy(justice) is not strained.”
(its definition is not tightly controlled)
William Shakespeare
“Let justice roll like water and righteousness
Like a mighty stream.” Jewish Prayer Service

2nd day of the weekly count, 9th day of the omer count
Gevurah of Gevurah
“Justice is freedom combined with equality.”
Mortimer Adler, Six Great Ideas *

3rd day of the weekly count, 10th day of the omer count
Tiferet of Gevurah
Justice is everyone and everything
participating in its virtue (its good according to its kind or its concept) Plato, The Republic

4th day of the weekly count, 11th day of the omer count
Netzach of Gevurah
No good fruit (end) can come from a bad tree
(bad means). No bad fruit (end) can come from a good
Tree(good means).” Jesus Christ according to the
Gospel of Matthew
Good defines evil, evil defines good, good comes
From good, evil from evil.”
Sefirah Yetzirah, Book V.

5th day of the weekly count, 12th day of the omer count
Hod of Gevurah
Good – What is desirable for its own sake

6th day of the weekly count, 13th day of the omer count
Yesod of Gevurah
divine order—a rightful (according to a sound
everlasting principle)** procession of truth from Beginning as good faith to its correspondence And completion as a realization in one of us or
All of us or the World around us.

7th day of the weekly count, 14th day of the omer count
Malkuth of Gevurah

'You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
Joseph to his brother, story in the Torah

*An idea is a representation in our minds of a thought. A concept can be distinguished from a perception in that it has a likeness class (that is likeness or non-visual intellectual thought as opposed to an image or perception). Concepts themselves have likeness classes. Therefore a great idea is a synonym for a likeness class of a concept.
** Being divine, this correspondence can only take place inside of a field of being which has its existence as a part of God’s name. Furthermore, in order for God to have a name he must be a unique individual, that is, a one.
April 16

Seven Thoughts About Beauty
(Tiferet)

1st day of the weekly count,15th day of the omer count
Chesed of Tiferet
“Beauty is controlled grace.”
Leonardo da Vince
Renaissance Christian Definition

2nd day of the weekly count, 16th day of the omer count
Gevurah of Tiferet
“Awareness is a mirror reflecting the four
elements. Beauty is a heart that generates
Love and a mind that is open.”
Thich Nhat Hanh,- Buddhist Gatha ***

3rd day of the weekly count, 17th day of the omer count
Tiferet of Tiferet
“Beauty is understanding that which is
desirable for its own sake. Love is aspiring
Upward toward eternal beauty.”
Saint Augustine, Confessions.

4th day of the weekly count, 18th day of the omer count
Netzach of Tiferet
“And, why do you worry about clothes? See
how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor
Or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in
All his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
Which is here today and gone tomorrow and is
Thrown into the fire, will he not much more
Clothe you. O you of little faith?”—Jesus Christ
Gospel of Matthew



5th day of the weekly count, 19th day of the omer count “
Hod of Tiferet

"As long as we have bodies, we must inhabit the dwellings prepared for us by our good sister the Soul in her vast powers of labourless creation."

Plotinus, Second Ennead, Chapter 9, verse 18. The Great Books, Edited by Mortimer Adler, U. of Chicago Press.

The beautiful is that which pleases us on being seen.”
Saint Thomas Aquinas
“The beautiful is that which pleases us upon being contemplated.”
Immanuel Kant

6th day of the weekly count, 20th day of the omer count
Yesod of Tiferet
“Truth is beauty and beauty truth, that
is all you know and all you need to know.”
Keats---viewpoint of a poet
“Your love, O YHWH, reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness
Is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the
Great deep…For with you is the fountain of life,
In your light we see light.” View of King David
About why God is beautiful


7th day of the weekly count, 21 day of the omer count
Malkuth of Tiferet

"We must always remember that beauty is a partial thing,
that cannot be identified with what pervades the whole;
nor can several objects be stated as everything."
Plotinus ibid, verse 17.

"Pretty is as pretty does.” Protestant
Christian saying passed down in the Calohan
Family (from Alma May Calohan) to her
Daughter Virginia Calohan Harrell

*** Quoted from “Present Moment, Wondelful Moment: Mindfulness Verses for Daily Living.”( 1990) by Thich Nhat Hanh with permission of Parallax Press, Berkeley California.

April 23
Seven Thoughts About Patience and Integrity
(Netzach)

1st day of the weekly count,22th day of the omer count
Chesed of Netzach

"Let not mercy and kindness forsake you."
Sanctify the name of God
with our love
"Withold not good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it."[Romans 13:7; Gal. 6:10]*

2nd day of the weekly count, 23 day of the omer count
Gevurah of Netzach
Exalt and lift up the name of God*
"Keep sound and godly wisdom and discretion."
"Be not afraid of sudden terror and panic."
"For the Lord shall be your confidence, firm and strong, and shall keep your foot from being caught."


3rd day of the weekly count, 24th day of the omer count
Tiferet of Netzach
Bless the name of God
bring it into our consciousness
"Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord."*

4th day of the weekly count,25th day of the omer count
Netzach of Netzach

"Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all you heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding." *
Rest in the name of God
(with patience)

5th day of the weekly count, 26th day of the omer count
Hod of Netzach
Give glory to the name of God
"Happy is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom, and the man who gets understanding. For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and the profit of it better than fine gold...more precious than rubies; and nothing you can wish for is to be compared to her. [Job 28:12 -18] Length of days are in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are highways of pleasantness, and all her paths are of peace "* #

6th day of the weekly count,27th day of the omer count
Yesod of Netzach
Praise the name of God
(in eternal life)
"Do not despise or shrink from the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary or impatient about or loathe or abhor his reproof. For whom the Lord loves, he corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights." *

7th day of the weekly count, 28th day of the omer count
Malkuth of Netzach
Honor the name of God
"Honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency [from righteous labours] and with the firstfruits of all your income; so shall your storage places be filled with plenty." *

* Most of these thoughts are contained in the 3rd chapter of the Book of the Proverbs of King Solomon
# For those who gain wisdom, will eventually learn to have peace of mind, and, as my Buddhist prayer partners teach, peace of mind is, dear friends, our most precious attainment and highest happiness. For if we have this, God can supply us with the rest of the riches of the glories in Christ he has prepared for us through the divine order of his providence and the hidden protections that the small, but important, parts of each of us play in his great plans for all of us (the contributions of each of us being tied together in a huge and complex network of salvation, the stronger for the fact that the temporary loss or transformation of any part of it can be made up by the reserve forces contained in the rest).

April 30th


Seven Thoughts About Obedience and Glory
(Hod)

Some twofold thoughts from the Birkat H’shir, Blessing of Song
Which is part of the 15 expressions of praise of God in the Yishtabach prayer

1st day of the weekly count, 29th day of the omer count
Chesed of Hod
b’arachot v’hodaot
blessings and thanks


2nd day of the weekly count, 30th day of the omer count
Gevurah of Hod
k’dehshah v’malchot
holiness and dominion

3rd day of the weekly count, 31st day of the omer count
Tiferet of Hod
t’ehllah v’tiferet
psalm singing and beauty

4th day of the weekly count, 32nd day of the omer count
Netzach of Hod
Rest,eternally, in the name of God
(with patience)

5th day of the weekly count, 33rd day of the omer count

Hod of Hod
az v’mem’shalah strong help and power

6th day of the weekly count, 34th day of the omer count
Yesod of Hod
hallayl v’zim’rah
(praise or veneration and melodies)

7th day of the weekly count, 35th day of the omer count
Malkuth of Hod
song and praise