Briut wrote on 02 Jun 2010 02:27:
Hashem is running the universe. Whether you like it or not. Whether you like the results or not. Whether you think it's good or not.
Glad you happened to like this result, CA. But I'll add in that "liking it is not the point." Loving Hashem, and His ways, and His torah/laws -- THAT's the point."
In other words, would your day have gone as well if your dad HAD found your browsing history; could you have seen it as bashert & bracha etc?
But you know that. So, get to sleep already. [tasteless comment about nuts under the covers edited out before posting, in deference to community standards]
This quote is the general area I was trying to address before, CA. But it's the work of a lifetime. I've done a thousand rounds of this and it's never enough, as the 12-steppers like to say. It's all about what deveikus is, and where it can take us.
Everybody here is a Good Yid. Everybody. You wouldn't be here otherwise. I'm not talking about whether you, in the past, got arrested or lost all your money or gave up your dignity or whetever in the name of s*x. I'm talking about your loving Hashem and wanting to live in His path.
What's hiding behind that statement, and hiding from most Good Yidden, is that this means we really have to trust Him. This is easy when things are going well. (Which, of course means, going well according to what WE'd like to see.) But it's when things ain't lookin' too good that we separate out the Ohavei Hashem from the phony ones.
I've had some "awful" things happen in my life, as well as many many "terrific" things. What's the difference between them? Probably not much more than my perception of whether "I" see them as good. And, in a Jewish way of thinking, WHO CARES about that? I am not running the universe, and I'm not expected to.
I know I'm not saying anything new here. We all know we have to let go and let G-d (geez, another 12-stepper quote; I'm gonna have to stop that or somebody's gonna drag me to a meeting). But what we really have to do is LOVE doing it.
Do you SEE how rough it was last night when your flesh and blood dad was this close to finding your embarrassing surfing history? The fear? The anguish? The prayer it should all go away and turn out right? Well, you probably know this but you were just plain WRONG.
By wrong, I mean you've got to trust G-d once you've made all your preparatory efforts. What if He wanted your dad to find it, with a wonderful result in store for you? What if He just wanted to see if you trusted Him, loved Him, etc so that He could give you the extra ice cream cone He was saving for His best budd? And worst of all, who the HECK are you trying to inject negative emotions into a world that He is trying so desparately hard to make into a world of peace and harmony?
So anyhow, if I had another hour I could compose this so it's easier to read and not so hard on your kishkes. I don't mean anything bad. As I said, it's the work of a lifetime for all of us here. But whenever we see something that looks really awful in our lives, we really only have three choices:
1) daven that He should change it because you feel too weak to withstand the test;
2) find something good inside the situation and show gratitude for that; or,
3) daven that He get you through it and hopefully let you see the beauty behind His gift.
Being scared of life is a slap in His face, Ch'V, and being more scared of flesh and blood than we are of Hashem is apikorsus or perhaps avodah zora. There's really only one path which is love of Hashem, AND THAT'S THE ONLY WAY ANY YID ON THIS SITE IS GOING TO SUCCEED IN HIS GYE WORK.
Okay, that was my soap box speech, CA. We all know this stuff, but every once in a while somebody posts something that gives me that slap in the face of, "thanks, I needed that." And last night, that somebody in my life was you.