Conference taveng::bagels

376.0. "Love means *having* to say you're sorry" by BRAT::PULKSTENIS () Sun Sep 27 1987 13:11

    An open letter to God's chosen people:
    
    Shalom, and may He bless you and yours in the coming year.
    
    I come to you as a Christian with a burdened heart. Of necessity,
    this is sketchy, but still too long. I ask your patience. I'll 
    explain more fully later, but first and most important...
    
    If I could speak to each one of you personally, face to face, I
    would do so.  Since that is impossible, I come before you here,
    in openness and love, to ask forgiveness. As a Christian (and I
    don't like that word anymore), I feel compelled to take this step.
    Although I know there are other Christians who feel this way, I
    speak only for myself. 
    
    You may say it's too little, too late. I would agree. It is 
    *very* little, and *long* overdue. But it is something I 
    have to do, nevertheless.
    
    I dare not hope for it, yet I pray that some of you might 
    understand, and forgive *me* for what has been done to your 
    people throughout history in the name of "Christianity".
    
    Just a month or two ago, I did not foresee that I would be here
    with this message. So, what brings me to this point? God works in
    strange and wonderful ways [but, *you* know that! :-) ]...
    
    I consider myself a relatively new Christian (the "born-again
    variety"). I know I am commanded to love the Jews. To make that
    love a real and positive force, I realized I had to know and 
    understand you. (And, I really do envy your rich heritage, and 
    want to better understand it while growing in my appreciation 
    of you.)
    
    And so, after a couple of "catalysts" God sent my way, I embarked
    on an independent study of Judaism and its traditions, festivals
    and history. (This is an area woefully neglected by most churches.)
    
    Over the past month, I've tried to come to grips with what I've 
    learned about Catholic and Protestant church history. When I studied 
    history in college, the Inquisition and Crusades seemed so far away! 
    They were just facts in a history book. *I never internalized them*!
    I never knew about Martin Luther and the Reformation. I do now.
    I cannot comprehend the spiritual blindness that resulted in such
    abhorrent acts.
    
    I have now painfully, tearfully, "internalized". I am so ASHAMED!
    And I am ANGRY, too, at those Christians for leaving me such a 
    dishonorable legacy! Since they are long gone and to rail against
    them would be fruitless, I have to come to terms with the anger and
    shame within myself, before God.
    
    Before I began my studies, a Jew whom I've never met but have come
    to fondly consider a friend (and you know who you are, God love
    you!) saw one of my questions elsewhere about Jews and implied 
    (off-line) that I had been sheltered. (BTW, he was one of the
    "catalysts" I mentioned.)
    
    I now recognize there was much kindness in his choice of words. 
    I have not been sheltered but, rather, ignorant due to complacency 
    and preoccupation, and neglectful of my responsibilities toward 
    Jews. It's not easy to admit this. I could make a lot of good-
    sounding excuses, but excuses are obstacles in my path. It's time 
    to get rid of the obstacles and move on. So, I also need to ask 
    you to forgive me for my sins of omission.
    
    What I've said here may make no difference to anyone but myself
    and God. I don't know. 
    
    I do know that I grieve over the separation between us while
    believing God's promise that it will not always be so.
    
    I know that the world owes you so much, and as a Christian I owe
    you so much, that it needed to be said. It should be multiplied
    millions of times, by a multitude of voices, until it becomes a
    resounding echo around the world, a sweet sound to God's ears.
    
    Last, but not least, I take this step for the reality of my own
    faith, as a response to God for the great love and mercy he has
    shown me through Jesus, and to go on record with my commitment to
    His people.
    
    In Chaim Potok's book, "The Chosen," Danny says that his father,
    Rabbi Saunders, doesn't talk much because "words distort what a
    person really feels in his heart," and that he wishes we could 
    all talk in silence.
    
    Oh, how I do, too! For then, you would see beyond the words on
    this screen to what is really in my heart. Perhaps you will
    anyway, God willing.
    
    I close in a spirit of love and with thanksgiving for all you are,
    and all you have given us,
    
    Irena
    (Who is just beginning to understand what it means to *truly
     appreciate* you!)
    

    Irena, your note was beautifully written. But even more beautiful
    than your words are the feelings which come from your heart.
    
    Indeed, God does His work in marvelous and mysterious ways. None
    of us can know where following His paths of righteousness will
    take us. 
    
    But where He commands us to go, we all must. You are now beginning
    to travel the path He has set forth for you at this time in your
    life.
    
    May your journey be filled with wonder, fulfillment, and peace.
    
       Alan 

    RE .1, Alan...
    
    The screen is beginning to "swim" a little, as I get all 
    misty-eyed again...
                      
    Thank you for understanding. Your reply warms, and encourages,
    my heart.
    
    Irena
    

    Irena,
    
    Thank you for your moving note.  I am happy for you, that you have
    found this great fount of spirituality inside yourself.  Although
    the "beliefs" may be different, I think they are only G*d's masks.
    For the true spirituality, the love of the divine, the infusion
    of the divine into daily life, I believe is fundamentally the same
    for all faiths.  I have had deep conversations with spiritual people
    of a number of faiths - including Buddhism, Catholicism, and Pagan.
    It is my observation that truly spiritual people of different religions
    have more in common, often, than a deeply religious one and a secular
    one of the same religion.  The commitment and sincerity make all
    the difference.  G*d's true light, through any vehicle, will always
    yield kindness and a desire for understanding.  
    
    The anti-Semitism that has characterized so much of Christian history
    is a result of distortions in the mind, of political and economic
    opportunism and oppression.  Although it was long ago formalized
    in Christian texts and doctrines, I don't believe they reflect the
    essential inner grace of the religion.  Those who adhere to
    anti-Semitic beliefs have blocked the light, no matter how devout
    their observance.  For the whole universe, and all its sentient
    beings, are manifestions of the divine.  Religions will come and
    go, but G*D is everlasting and belongs to no human religion.  We
    say in our Jewish prayers that G*D is beyond all names and definitions,
    is formless, and eternal.  You may hear sometime from your
    co-religionists that only in Jesus can you be saved.  I hope you
    then remember that we humans need saving from OURSELVES most of
    all, and that there are many rivers to the sea.
    
    If you get a chance, there are a number of books and films about
    Christians who sheltered Jews during the holocaust.  You would find
    them inspirational.
    
    Laura