March 04, 2008

Contemplative

On the suggestion of a friend, I have started reading "Girl Meets God" by Lauren F. Winner. She grew up an Orthodox Jew and is now a Christian.

I read and find myself wishing for more depth in the church traditions I know. Everything is a symbol for the Jews. And they actually take time to stop and remember. It is law for them to take a week and celebrate their history. We have come a long long way from then...and it makes me sad and leaves me feeling empty, like my faith is lacking.

Then Lauren says this "...I go down to shul where I sometimes worshiped in college, when I was still an Orthodox Jew, a shul where they know Hebrew and melodies and know nothing about Jesus."

They do not know anything about Jesus. They know him as the son of a carpenter and a good rabbi, but nothing of the saving grace he offered. "He came into his own but his own did not receive him..." For me...this is slowly becoming one of the saddest verses in all of scripture.

Lauren's struggle is finding a way to marry the traditions she has grown up in with her new faith in Christ and maybe by the end of the book she will have accomplished this task. What I am slowly realizing is that my heart wants a way to marry the faith I have grown up in with the traditions of the Jews. After all, I have been grafted in.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our Sunday school class teacher spoke on something similar to this, because of Lent.

I too was inspired. We take so much for granted sometimes, we forget how much God has done for us. There is a lot to be said for "tradition". IMHO it keeps one grounded.

je

Anonymous said...

I totally agree. I love reading the Old Testament and their traditions. Unfortunately, some religions take traditions too far and people get lost in going thru the motions.

I wish that modern churches taught more reverence for things. To respect the holiness of God.

My family is coming for Easter and I really want to help implement that, since half of them don't seem to let much of Christ into their lives.

amh

Isaiah Kallman said...

I know of some amazing resources for Christians who want to learn about their Jewish roots. First, David H Stern translated the New Testament Greek back into Hebrew, then from Hebrew to English. You can either get the Jewish New Testament alone, or the Complete Jewish Bible. Stern also wrote a little book called "Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospels".

Aside from that, there is a Messianic Jewish organization called First Fruits of Zion. They have a Torah study available that includes New Testament portions to be read alongside traditional Torah portions. Their other books are worth looking at as well.

It's nice to hear another person express a desire to know more about Christianity through Judaism.