Praying

Good morning Frazzled you are doing very well considering the storm that is going on around you.

We are in a hotel in Harrogate at the moment….. having breakfast before we do the next part of the journey down to our daughter and family (3 granddaughters under 11) in Surrey for a few weeks….. but I find it so important to connect in the morning and indeed at night to keep my focus on the Father regardless where I am.

A tool a few folks in this little community use is an App called Lectio 365.

Have a look as it is a great way to start the day and to finish the day.

I've downloaded it and it is a help just today seems out of my reach for some reason.. just cant seem to shake it..

When you use the app do remember to put the sound up

Yep I sure do.. just something today keeps me feeling on edge itll pass eventually I hope.. 

Hi Mike

Thank you for the app recommendation. I just downloaded it and today is the anniversary of the death of Maximilian Kolbe who gave his life for another in Auschwitz-I’m sure you will already have seen it. A few years ago, I stood outside the cell in Auschwitz where he was held in the basement. I cannot explain the feeling of being right there where this incredible human being had spent his last days. It was very profound and I remember it to this day. It seems an appropriate day to explore and use the app.

Sarah xx

Hi Sarah SarahH21 the Lectio App is a great tool, full of thought provoking subjects, encouragement and often a ‘word’ just at the right time.

I have never been to Auschwitz but we did visit a few places in and around Prague a few years back……

We have a number of Polish friends and it is so evident that there is a DNA that runs deep through the generations and they all have an inbuilt stoicism……

I heard my grandparents and parents talk about the war years but not in the way that these folks talk.

We visited Anne Franks home a few years back and again words can explain the feelings you get thinking about the journey they all went on.

Corrie Ten Boom once said….. “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength - carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength”

Morning Mike

I’m just getting back here after a busy day yesterday! I love the quote you have posted, and have seen it many times. I need to take more heed of it myself as I head into another surgery very soon. I had a friend visit yesterday afternoon for a very good chat about spirituality, God and the Universe-we are always still learning and growing. It was very thought provoking.

I’ve been to Krakow many times, though only twice to Auschwitz/Birkenau, focusing on different areas each time as there is so much to absorb. I’ve studied the Holocaust for many years, both in reading and taking a course through Yad Vashem, trying to understand man’s inhumanity to man, and the indomitable will of those they tried to destroy. 

When I was actually there, I wasn’t as upset as I assumed I would be, and found that strange the first time. What affected me most was the exhibition containing the suitcases, children’s toys, artefacts of daily life. The vastness of what was there, each piece representing the life of a single person who didn’t survive. A single red sandal, the hair. That was hugely emotional and very moving. I haven’t been able to resolve the question in my head of where was God in this. 

I visited Anne Frank’s house too, and found it incredible. I’ve also visited the site of a massacre in Russia where there is a headstone for every village destroyed in the war, where a bell tolls continuously. I feel privileged to have travelled and seen so much. 

As an aside, I was due to be up in Inverness in a couple of weeks to see an old family friend on a trip up North for a wee holiday following my daughter’s wedding. Unfortunately we have had to cancel as my father in law has finally got a date for his long awaited cancer surgery. So my long planned trip to my birthplace and the places where I grew up is no longer. I still hope one day to get back, but at least we can attend the wedding before heading straight back to England! 

Sarah xx

Sorry to hear that you will have to cut your trip short....another time.

Unfortunately things come along to interrupt life but we just have to deal with them and move on as best as we can.

Your questions where was God in all this?.... is best answered by a Jew.

Where was the Messiah Yeshua during the Holocaust? If He was indeed the Messiah then why did evil run rampant and why didn’t He save His chosen people? These are questions that are difficult to answer, but there is one verse in the New Testament that helps us understand the relationship between Yeshua and His people. The verse is one of the shortest in the entire Bible and is as follows: “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)

He wept because of the death of His friend Lazarus and because He loved His fellow Jewish people! But, this is not the only occasion where Jesus wept for the Jewish people.

In the Gospel of Luke, we read the following passage, “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it.” (Luke 19:41)

This time He wept because He knew that in the near future, the Romans would destroy the city of Jerusalem. The One whom so many of us believe is the promised Messiah of Israel loves His people. According to the New Testament, He will one day return to reign as King of Israel, destroy the enemies of the Jewish people, and judge those who tried to destroy the Jewish people throughout the centuries (Revelation 19:15, Zechariah 14:1-5).

This might not answer the entire question as to why He allowed the suffering of the Holocaust. Jewish people have tried for decades to figure out where God was during the Holocaust. Again, we do not fully understand the reasons why the Lord allowed His chosen people to suffer, but we do know that He loves His people and those who persecuted the Jewish people will one day be held accountable before our Jewish Messianic judge.

By Dr. Mitch Glaser, A Messianic Jew from Brooklyn, New York

Hi Mike

Thank you for that text-I think our inability at times to comprehend why things happen is a failing on our own part on a human level to grasp the bigger picture. I was questioning one of my relatives not all that long ago on his view-he is someone I respect greatly and is a Christian by anyone’s definition.

He said to me “you just have to believe”. That stuck with me. 5 simple words which he finds sufficient to live his life by, despite some terrible things which have happened which you would think would sorely test anyone. His faith is unshakeable despite everything and I find that a wonderful thing. I will get to see him on my brief visit to Scotland and I’m looking forward to that!

Sarah xx

Faith can be very simple....... it's people and culture that makes it so complicated and political.

I don't come from a family that has any distinctive Church or Faith background...... although my Grandad (my dad's dad) would march all 7 kids to Church every Sunday...... but i think that was part of life and the culture back pre and post WW1 and WW2

I found Faith in a very simple way, no one preached at me, I was not indoctrinated......

I was 16...... not a wild kid but liked to play guitar with some kids from the street, play lots of football and Cricket.

I was in my first year of my Joinery Apprenticeship.... one Saturday I cycled down to the beach where we stayed and was walking the beach.... I remember it as clear it was yesterday.  I looked around.... the North Sea was beautiful calm, the sun was out, I turned and looked at the forest to my right and the town on my left and a voice in my head said these words "Mike....... windows don't grow on trees...... they need a creator, a craftsman to take the tree and make a window"

We had been making windows that week so this and the surroundings triggered my search for the meaning of life....

I mentioned this to one of my friends and it turned out that he was from a Christian home...... so his mum become my 'spiritual mum' and patiently answered all my very searching questions I threw at her..... the next 52 years are another story of growing in my Faith, developing my Faith.... becoming a Husband and a Dad and Grandad....... we are part of the leadership of a great Church Family in Inverness........ but having firm Faith does not automatically protect you from the 'stuff' that comes along........ 24 years into my incurable cancer journey I can honestly say that we.... as I include all my family, have been strengthened in oh so many ways especially during the real hard times.

Cancer is not God's idea....... 'man' have a lot to answer for with regards to how cancer has developed over the centuries.....but that is another story.

We had a Back to School Sunday for the kids this past Sunday at Church. I was playing in the band as you do at 68 ;)........ and we finished the service with This Great Song....... as song that touches all areas of life.... from the children dealing with the emotions and fear going to school for the first time..... to those who are dealing with challenges that have to be navigated face on.

((hugs))