Journeys - There's No Place Like Home

My study partner from Partners in Torah introduced me to a Jewish musician named Abie Rotenberg. I especially enjoy listening to his "Journeys" albums. There is a song called "There's No Place Like Home" on the Journeys Volume 1 CD. This past year, I listened to that song over and over. The song is obviously about a Jewish person's spiritual search. It could be my journey, but I'm sure it IS the journey of many other Jews.

The second section of this song is the one that really gets to me. The "others" are obviously loving and well-meaning Christians, but yet "something" is pulling me away from them.

 

There is "something" that seems to draw many of us "back."

• Listen to "There's No Place Like Home" - Lyrics and Music by Abie Rotenberg

There's No Place Like Home - Lyrics and Music by Abie Rotenberg

You had searched so long, for the answers and the truth, And they said you'll find it here, with promises of truth. But the long white robes, and the chanting in the streets, It left you cold, your soul still had to seek.  

What you're looking for, is right there at your door, Believe me when I tell you friend, you couldn't ask for more. What your heart has known, is that there is no place like home, So come on back, oh you'll never be alone. 

And when the others came so gently, as peaceful as a dove, They stirred inside something inside of you, they only spoke of love. But what your mind cried out "What of history, the hatred to my race", And you knew then, you still had not found your place. 

 What you're looking for, is right there at your door, Believe me when I tell you friend, you couldn't ask for more. What your heart has known, is that there is no place like home, So come on back, oh you'll never be alone. 

Despairing and confused, you traveled far and wide, But you passed through one small country, where you started feeling pride. So you found a place to study, what you thought was ancient law, And you wished you learned about it all before. Now you can stand up straight and tall, because you're where you want to be No one had it, strong as steel, your faith has set you free. And as you gaze up at that simple wall, your hand upon a stone, You can say the journey's over, I am home. 

 What you're looking for, is right there at your door, Believe me when I tell you friend, you couldn't ask for more. What your heart has known, is that there is no place like home, So come on back, oh you'll never be alone. What you're looking for, is right there at your door, Believe me when I tell you friend, you couldn't ask for more. What your heart has known, is that there is no place like home, So come on back, oh you'll never be alone.

A Certain Friend Makes Me "Do It"

Have you even had a friend that motivates you to do things that make sense at the time, but are not always logical?

I have a friend like that. Whenever I am around her or am in contact with her, I do the strangest things!

She doesn't do anything to motivate me; it's like she just puts ideas into my head and off I go...

During "my spiritual search," I contacted her. After I decided that Jesus was the Messiah, it was suggested that perhaps I not contact her for my own spiritual welfare.

Anyway...since I seem to "want to go back to Egypt," I contacted her this week. No harm was done. I didn't do anything crazy or wrong. We just talked about Passover and what was going on in our lives, but still...I did connect with her...

I Think I Want to Go Back to Egypt

I am in the midst of reading the story of Keith Green. There's a song he wrote called "So You Want to Go Back to Egypt." As I read the lyrics last night, I realized that I seem to be in "that place."

(I think I may be what I recall Jews for Jesus called a "high maintenance contact.")



So You Want to Go Back to Egypt

So you want to go back to Egypt
Where it is warm & secure
Are sorry you bought the one way ticket
When you thought you were sure
You wanted to live in the land of promise
But now it is getting so hard
Are you sorry you are out here in the desert
Instead of your own back yard

Eating leaks & onions by the Nile
Ooh what breath for dining out in style
Ooh, my life is on the skids
Building the pyramids

Well there isn´thing do but travel
And we sure travel a lot
'Cause it is hard to keep your feet from moving
When the sand gets so hot
And in the morning it is manna hotcakes
We snack on manna all day
And we sure had a winner last night for dinner
Flaming manna souffle

Well we once complained for smth new to munch
The ground opened up & had some of us for lunch
Ooh, such fire & smoke
Can´t God even take a joke? Huh? NO!

So you want to to back to Egypt
Where your friends wait for you
You can throw a big party & tell the whole gang
Of what they said was all true
And this Moses acts like a big shot
Who does he think he is?
Well it is true that God works lots of miracles
But Moses thinks they are all his

Oh we are having so much trouble even now
Why´d he get so mad about that c-c-c-cow (that golded calf)
Moses seems rather idle
He just sits aound, he just sits around & writes the Bible!

Oh, Moses, put down your pen!
What? Oh no, manna again?

Oh, manna waffles....
Manna burgers
Manna bagels
Fillet of manna
Manna patty
BaManna bread!

Way Back Then - Was It Only One Month Ago?

Just a little over a month ago, according to those who believe, I was doing "all the right things." I had taken a very scary "plunge." I had prayed a "sinner's prayer" with a Jews for Jesus missionary, I attended some church services, and I was reading the Bible.

I also went to a Jews for Jesus
Christ in the Passover Presentation and went to a presentation by Jews for Jesus's traveling music group, Blue Mosaic, when they were in Colorado.

I also tried to listen to Christian music and had told my husband that I believed. I even got Dan to take me to a service at a Calvary Chapel. I prayed every day, I listened to and attended some online bible studies, and tried my best to seek God.

I felt renewed and told people I'd hurt that I was sorry. My anger about certain things disappeared. Something was different and I felt a new joy inside my being.

That was a month ago. That "month ago" seems like an eternity away now.

I have tried, but I just can't seem to fit in (or do I want to fit in) with the world of believers.

I am Jewish. My kids are Jewish. Over fifteen years ago, Dan and I decided to raise our children in the Jewish faith. We are secular Jews, but we are Jewish. My children and husband are not "open" to the Gospel at all. (It's just very hard in my house to believe in something that the rest of the family considers "dumb.")

We just celebrated Passover, but did buy some jelly beans that we ate on Easter Sunday. I did "attend church" on Easter Sunday (online with my best friend and lifelong friend, Marion), but still, I feel so far from God right now.

I am just not sure that I can "do this."

How can this be? Moishe Rosen told me in 2003 that my faith (in the past) was never real and was based on feelings. Did I make everything up this time around too? I don't want to pretend I believe or behave or talk or act a certain "expected way." I made that mistake over 30 years ago and don't want to do that again.

For those who read my blog, I do ask for your prayers. I very much believe that prayer works and I very much believe in God.

• A Short Summary of My Spiritual Search - By Jo Ann Schneider Farris - Written on 3-30--2011
  

My Thoughts After Seeing "Soul Surfer" - A Movie About Tragedy and Triumph

I took my kids to see Soul Surfer today. It's a movie about a young surfer, Bethany Hamilton, whose entire left arm was literally bitten off by a shark on October 31, 2003 when she was thirteen years old.

When the accident was shown in the movie, I began crying so hard! I remembered when my husband was in a tragic accident on September 16, 2005 and also when our dear friend, fourteen year old Haley Gans, was killed in a skiing accident on November 20, 2009.

I wept for Haley's family and I remembered, too, what it was like to be in the midst of what almost seemed surreal as Dan laid in the hospital and was near death.

The memory of me crying out to God asking for help, asking for a miracle, came back to my being.

Tragedy can happen in an instant.

Somehow, supernatural strength comes to those who experience tragedy and life moves on. I realized today, as memories of my own experience with near tragedy flooded back, that when people told me I was "so brave and strong," I only was brave and strong because God gave guidance and strength during that surreal time.

In the movie, it is made clear that Bethany Hamilton's faith and her family's faith were what got them through such a difficult time. I wonder now how I could have ever moved forward without God as Dan lay near death. I am thankful that I now know He is in control of all things.

"God’s touched executives and called upon nerds..."

I've been thinking lately about why God has put me through so many paths and adventures.

I did definitely feel at one time that God called me, like Moses, to do a certain task. I've talked about that task in this blog - the task was telling a well-known religious organization that they'd done some wrong things that needed to be dealt with. When that task and cause ended, I felt completely lost.

That's when my spiritual search began. The task before me at that point was to seek God as Jew.

Now, just in the past few months, I've decided that Jesus is the Messiah, but...I've thought about this all week long...I don't want to label myself as a "Christian." I believe, but I'm a Jew who believes...I am NOT a Christian.

I will continue to seek God as a Jew, but I will also follow the Jewish messiah.

God has touched me....yes...and He has touched many other people. He calls executives to him and He touches nerds...and He has touched me too. I don't know... yet... what God wants of me to do now, but whatever it is, I'm trying...

Sally Klein O'Connor's song (below) sums up some of my thoughts for today. Her husband, Michael, came up with the line, "God's touched executives and called upon nerds."

Improbable People For Impossible Tasks

Published by Dusty Records, BMI
Words: Michael O'Connor
Music: Sally Klein O’Connor

©Copyright 1990 Improbable People Ministries

• Listen to Improbable People For Impossible Tasks Music Clip

It was a hot-and-bush-was-burning day
When God said "Moses, look my way
You got to travel home and tell Pharaoh
Let my people go–Oh no!
Let my people go"

Well Moses looked at the Lord and his burning brows
And he should've known the big guy meant business now
Instead he said "My tongue is dull and slow
And man I'm really old–Oh no!
God I'm truly old

Moses don't you know that you're a cosmic bore
What you listing all your limitations for
I made your mouth, I made your tongue
And I know you're far from young

I want improbable people for impossible tasks
Don't assume I haven't gathered all the facts
Just trust that I'll help you through all that I ask
Improbable people for impossible tasks

She was a couple of years shy of the century mark
And Sarah'd never ever even seen a stork
When God said to her "Because I'm King
Israel will spring–I'm King!
Israel will spring"

Now Sarah looked at the Lord as though he were daft
"Me changing diapers--that’s crazy, " she laughed
"My body's barren, my wrinkles won't quit
And Abe would have a fit–that's it!
Abe would have a fit!"

Sarah don't you know the power of your Lord
What you listing all your limitations for
I know your begetting days are through
And that's why I picked you

I want impropbable people for impossible tasks
Don’t assume I haven’t gathered all the facts
Just trust that I’ll help you through all that I ask
Improbable people for impossible tasks

There’s no one so humble who can’t hear His words
God’s touched executives and called upon nerds
He uses the blind and comes out of the blue
So don’t be surprised if someday he calls on you

He wants improbable people for impossible tasks
Don’t assume he hasn’t gathered all the facts
Just trust that he’ll help you through all that he asks
Improbable people for impossible tasks

Another Keith Green Song

I'm reading about Keith Green's life right now. This is another one of his powerful songs.

For those who don't know who Keith Green is, he died tragically in a plane crash in 1982, but his music lives on.