Ruminations from the Temple

Sometimes change is easy. We begin using a better product, or change our hair style making life a bit easier. But sometimes change is hard, like when we want to stop a destructive habit. Making life changes is a very personal decision, but we don't live in vacuum. There are always those who have an opinion about the choices we make. Family, friends, co-workers, sometimes even strangers or enemies all feel the need to weigh in on our choices and decisions that facilitate change in our lives. At the end of the day, however, we alone are responsible for those changes, and for the subsequent consequences, either good or bad. If you have been a reader of my musings, or a follower on social media, you may be questioning my apparent decision to leave religion behind. "But Hendel," you may say, "you were such a strong believer! I really looked up to you as a bulwark of scriptual knowledge and wisdom!" Well, maybe you wouldn't say that, but regardless, I feel

This simple question has been bouncing around in my brain for the past day or so after it was posed by a social media friend. The question begs an answer, and several friends came forward quickly and claimed their beliefs confidently. I, on the other hand, considered it less of an opportunity to proclaim my lack of doubt in a deity and more of something to chew on it for a bit. What do I believe? In my history I have worn many labels. When I wanted to raise my children in the church, I took on the label of a Christian, even without fully knowing all that the label entailed. After a decade of wearing that label, I removed that one and took on another – Messianic Jew. Another set of rules, another group of people all wearing the label proudly, and another decade. And in that wearing of the label was buried my beliefs. The strange thing is that not all individuals who wear a particular label actually believe the same things. My fledgling beliefs and curiosity about religious dogma