The Worthiness Issue

Great discussion. Appreciate your outlook on organized religion. I think religion can service a great purpose in inspiring faith, when the religion is based on empowering people to realize their potential and express their natural talents. However, there are many religions that are about conformity, suppression, poverty and structure…inhibiting people’s natural ability to express their own greatness. For myself, growing up in a very structured religion, I found myself feeling guilty…about everything. It seemed that any path led to a path of sin and repenting.

Needless to say, I had enough of that. As an adult, I found myself exploring different philosophies, theologies and religions, more from the standpoint of learning. It has been an incredible experience enabling me to develop in the context of faith and creation. There are many great churches I’ve visited that truly served to empower people as well.

This process also enabled me to eliminate the misconceptions I had about money and wealth, allowing me to become very successful and enjoy a prosperous and abundant life.

It is unfortunate the religion has been bastardized so much so that the mere mention of “religion” can cause people to become upset. As with anything, it is important that an individual determine for themself what is serving them and their family towards the greater purpose of prosperity and what is not. My feeling is that if something leaves you feeling “less than”, run the other way.

Hey Randy,
I get your point, but here is my rebuttal….

*”Acquiring wealth is a human need. And fighting scarcity is essential, as it clears the path for the livelihood guaranteed by God to reach it’s recipient” Rabbi Bonder

*”I’ve been rich and I have been poor. Believe me rich is better! Better rich than poor.” Yiddish sayings

*”Nothing in the Universe is worse than poverty: it is the most terrible of sufferings….” Midrash (from Exodus 31:14)

*”It is the duty of every one of us to expand wealth- and not only our own- into the world around us. Let us define wealth as, the highest level of organization possible to the environment in such a way that everything alive and everything essential to life exists without scarcity. In other words, the more abundance we create for a given human need, without generating the scarcity of another need, the better. This is every person’s duty: to improve the quality of life around him or her” The Kabballah of Money

*”Arise, shine, for your light has dawned;…As you behold you will glow; Your heart will throb and thrill- For the wealth of the sea shall pass on to you, The riches of Nations shall flow to you…And I will add glory to my Glorious House….” Isaiah 60 ( I left out the wordy parts about the camels, gold etc )

*”The soul does not need spiritual elevation-it is pure. It is the body that needs to be purified by us human beings, because that was the Creator’s reason for creating it” Reb Shmuel
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Yes, that is your lesson in Jewish thinking for the day:)…. Have you actually talked to Jews who have said they think it is a sin to be rich? ( I never have) …or that they go to services to grovel, repent or save their souls? I am curious and wondering who they are.

Some day we should have a long talk about this one.

It’s actually really fascinating to learn how opposite Jewish thought is from Christian thought and how certain words get heard by a Christian brain. The same words usually have opposite meanings. Jewish teaching is always about day to day living. Repenting is simply because we screw up and it’s important to self evaluate from time to time, see if we need to clean up damage we have done to ourselves or the people in our life along the way.

In my experience no one really talks about saving their souls, what a person believes, or if there even is an afterlife….unless of course it is to have a riveting, most likely loud, conversation involving multitudes of opinions, even if only two people are having the conversation…and yes there are plenty of amazing writings about life after death, the universe, levels of heaven and reincarnation, but this is also so you can understand how to live well in this life, on this planet.

Jews pretty much go to Temple to chat with God, and each other. They give money so they have a place to gather and pray as a community.

Judaism is about responsible behavior, not belief. Even the most orthodox are trying to figure out what it means to be a decent and responsible citizen and care for others. Practicing rituals is a way to stay conscious of your own soul, be reminded to love all that is good around you, find your own sense of inner peace and hear God’s voice if you want to. (whatever that means to you.) It is such a NON dogma religion.

I obviously could go on and on, because I love Jewish thought and think it is so fabulously fascinating. It is a religion that openly teaches critical thinking as one of it’s highest values. It can be infuriating, but no one is ever supposed to just take the Rabbi’s word for anything…all study and teaching is for the purpose of leading to the next learning and exploring what new doors can open. It’s an enlivening experience.

This is part of why Jews are not always graceful. They have been taught to ponder and question and of course to argue. I understand there are wacko’s and fundimentalist’s in all religions, but Jew’s as a culture are generally taught that it is extremely important to be educated, make your way in the world and be successful in whatever you set out to do.

Remember, that we get the gift of reading the most abundant part of the Bible over and over again ever year….

Jeanne/Natanya-
(Gods Gracious Gift)

*Is wealth a human need or want? Is a livelihood a guarantee by God?

*Better to be rich than poor? Isn’t this a saying from Mae West and Sophie Tucker rather?

*Exodus 31: 12-18 is really about not working on The Sabbath, at least according to my bible. Actually, Exodus 31:14 says, “Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people.” But don’t look at me – I can’t say I don’t ever work on Sundays. I need to eat!

I think it is interesting to think that my body needs to be purified but it is my soul that is “pure.” Jesus has some strong sayings about this belief but let’s leave him out of this discussion for the sake of argument.

In bitterness of soul, Hanna wept in 1 Samuel.

Job questions why the light is given to those who are bitter of soul and then admits his very own soul is bitter

The writer in Ps 6:3 talks about how his soul is in anguish and many, many psalms talk about a soul in revival (ps19:7), affliction (31:7), grief, etc. Primarily the soul is compared to the heart throughout the bible and that we need to love God with our heart and Soul.

I had a great friend in NYC who was Jewish and a widow. I will never forget her saying all the time that “God can’t help them if they can’t help themselves.” I’ve just always had a desire to know the bible inside and out as a way to find out what God is really trying to say to me.

No doubt or question that we fully deserve attracts all types of abundance and opulence. We are infinite!