Faith Is Magical Thinking

At times I have been accused of magical thinking, but this is what I know; Hashem tells us this:

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that YHWH thy God, He is God; the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations;

And this,

Deuteronomy 7:15 And YHWH will take away from thee all sickness; and He will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee, but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.”

Now, I can’t say that I have never been sick, or that I have always been faithful.  I struggled with mental illness, and opiates, which to me these are the “Evil diseases” I knew at my worst.  Even to this day, I have a few allergies.

However, Hashem’s word promises me that he will keep me free from sickness, in return for obedience, and that is precisely what I experience.

I do my best to follow His commands, and this is what I get:  I have never been vaccinated against the flu, yet it has been several years since I have had any viral infection.  In addition, it has been at least 20yrs since I have had a bacterial infection, going back to one time in high school when I had small one under my toenail, probably from the boys locker-room.  This seems like magical thinking indeed, but I don't care because it works, sort of; one must do in addition to acquiring belief!  At one time I had a job that dealt with sewage, and I still didn’t get sick, not even once!

Therefore I suggest that one can live free from disease through religion, but it’s not as if one can state that he or she has faith and continue to doubt Torah.  One must have faith first, and possibly prove later.

As a former atheist, I am not going to be able to tell you that everything in this existence is reasonable, or provable.  We may never be able to study about Hashem in a quantifiable way, or to understand before doing.  If that sort of thinking is an obstacle for you, then I truely feel sorry for you.

Note: Quotes from 1917 JPS Corrected version.

Idol or G-d: Is truth discernible?

One man's God is the next man's idol! How profound. Just say that and put the next evangelist that tries to save you in a pickle. It reminds me of a comical skit from The State. Old fashioned man proclaims [license taken], “I believe in the one true G-d,” dramatic pause “And his name is Zoro and he is living in that lake,” which is followed by the old fashioned man humorously whistling at the end of the short clip.

watch the skit here:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpiw-ng5wkQ

I have never heard apologetics from any religion that address this maddening issue, which is that once we establish that there is a G-d, we fall flat on our faces in details, not minor details, but MAJOR DETAILS!, such as what the name of G-d is, but the where, the when, the why, and the how, so I will tell it: The details are up to Gd Himself, not me. However, I have a function too. As a faithful follower of Hashem, my role is to be as His instrument in order that His will may be done. He doesn’t need me to be His instrument, but through His unfathomable ways he has chosen to work through humankind.

Want to know how I came to faith? When I was an atheist at Rutgers, G-d spoke to me and instantaneously I believed. G-d said, "I AM punishing you." There was nothing not to believe about that Voice, and it caused me great joy because I never knew Gd could be capable of retribution, and not only that but that He also cared enough about me enough to speak with me. In my opinion, Hashem chose to speak to me when I was at my lowest because I felt like I had nothing to lose. I would try anything. Had he spoken to me in less dire circumstances, I may have brushed it off without changing. That is how I feel about folks when I tell them about G-d and they roll their eyes or deny that He has spoken with me. Like me in the good times, I expect that they wouldn’t change a thing.