This post is different than my usual posts... but these are thoughts that are on my mind, and give me a chance to share a little bit about myself. There's a lot going on in the world right now, and my family just recently just shared a major milestone. With the events occurring in my world, I've been thinking about creation versus evolution, religion versus science. If you know me in real life, you know that I am Jewish... and if you've come across me by reading the blog, you already know I'm a physical therapist. So I'm a person who has, throughout my life, studied both religion and science.
With regard to Judaism, I would describe my religious observance as family-oriented and tradition-based rather than living and breathing by Judaic law. Since I became a bat mitzvah, (20 years ago!) I have been an occasional synagogue attendee and I do not observe the Sabbath every weekend or keep a kosher home. To some, this would mean I'm "not as Jewish"... but I regularly apply Judaism to my life in meaningful personal ways. I treat others as I wish to be treated. I try to honor my parents - like the 10 Commandments tell me to. There are many ways that my religious upbringing sneaks into my life - and this is a cool thing about religion: you can - and in my opinion, should - make it your own. Like the saying "the best exercise is the one you will do consistently," I feel that the best way to be religious is to find what works best for you. There are too many ways to interpret biblical texts for people to all pray, believe, and live in the exact same way.
One way that religion creeps into my life is through prayer. I don't pray nightly, or even weekly. Months could go by between prayer sessions, but then I might get into a routine of it, for whatever reason, for periods of time. I'm sure I've probably gone a whole year, Yom Kippur to the following Rosh Hashanah holidays, without finding a need to pray in between. But there have been a few times in my life when I've faced something that was immensely overwhelming, either positively or negatively, that I could only reconcile my thoughts and emotions with prayer. For example, when my niece and nephew were born, I remember feeling so flooded with love and emotion, I didn't know what to do with myself. I felt lost in the whirlwind of feelings and ultimately I went to synagogue and cried praying for their health and giving thanks for them. They were so tiny and they immediately became "my everything." I found clarity through prayer and soon after that wrote that it was the first time I had ever loved anyone or anything more than myself. It was a huge shift in my perspective on life, and on love. It is easy for me to see why some religions drop to their knees in prayer...
As far as observance, I celebrate the major Jewish holidays and have developed traditions with friends and family that I look forward to annually. I make matzoh balls the same way my mom taught me how to when I was a little girl - and there's always some in my freezer in case I'm feeling under the weather because it truly is the best medicine. Some of my Seattle friends have celebrated at my annual Passover Seders with me for the past four years to sample the gefilte fish and other foods I've been eating only at this time of year for my whole life!
As part of my childhood, I attended A LOT of Hebrew School alongside my secular education. I can recall times when the message at one school conflicted with the other... "In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the Earth." And then learning about evolution and Charles Darwin in my science classes... the Big Bang! As a physical therapist who has studied a fair amount of science, it is easy to fall into the habit of believing in evolution and forgetting about creation. But then something happens and I'm reminded of the alternative perspective. A few weeks ago, my niece and nephew became B'nai Mitzvah. This translates to "children of the commandment," whereas bar mitzvah is "son of the commandment" and bat mitzvah is "daughter of the commandment" and it is somewhat like a celebration of the coming of age as you are now upheld to the responsibilities of the adults in the Jewish community. During their ceremony, they read this quote from Amos Oz, an Israeli writer:
With regard to Judaism, I would describe my religious observance as family-oriented and tradition-based rather than living and breathing by Judaic law. Since I became a bat mitzvah, (20 years ago!) I have been an occasional synagogue attendee and I do not observe the Sabbath every weekend or keep a kosher home. To some, this would mean I'm "not as Jewish"... but I regularly apply Judaism to my life in meaningful personal ways. I treat others as I wish to be treated. I try to honor my parents - like the 10 Commandments tell me to. There are many ways that my religious upbringing sneaks into my life - and this is a cool thing about religion: you can - and in my opinion, should - make it your own. Like the saying "the best exercise is the one you will do consistently," I feel that the best way to be religious is to find what works best for you. There are too many ways to interpret biblical texts for people to all pray, believe, and live in the exact same way.
One way that religion creeps into my life is through prayer. I don't pray nightly, or even weekly. Months could go by between prayer sessions, but then I might get into a routine of it, for whatever reason, for periods of time. I'm sure I've probably gone a whole year, Yom Kippur to the following Rosh Hashanah holidays, without finding a need to pray in between. But there have been a few times in my life when I've faced something that was immensely overwhelming, either positively or negatively, that I could only reconcile my thoughts and emotions with prayer. For example, when my niece and nephew were born, I remember feeling so flooded with love and emotion, I didn't know what to do with myself. I felt lost in the whirlwind of feelings and ultimately I went to synagogue and cried praying for their health and giving thanks for them. They were so tiny and they immediately became "my everything." I found clarity through prayer and soon after that wrote that it was the first time I had ever loved anyone or anything more than myself. It was a huge shift in my perspective on life, and on love. It is easy for me to see why some religions drop to their knees in prayer...
As far as observance, I celebrate the major Jewish holidays and have developed traditions with friends and family that I look forward to annually. I make matzoh balls the same way my mom taught me how to when I was a little girl - and there's always some in my freezer in case I'm feeling under the weather because it truly is the best medicine. Some of my Seattle friends have celebrated at my annual Passover Seders with me for the past four years to sample the gefilte fish and other foods I've been eating only at this time of year for my whole life!
As part of my childhood, I attended A LOT of Hebrew School alongside my secular education. I can recall times when the message at one school conflicted with the other... "In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the Earth." And then learning about evolution and Charles Darwin in my science classes... the Big Bang! As a physical therapist who has studied a fair amount of science, it is easy to fall into the habit of believing in evolution and forgetting about creation. But then something happens and I'm reminded of the alternative perspective. A few weeks ago, my niece and nephew became B'nai Mitzvah. This translates to "children of the commandment," whereas bar mitzvah is "son of the commandment" and bat mitzvah is "daughter of the commandment" and it is somewhat like a celebration of the coming of age as you are now upheld to the responsibilities of the adults in the Jewish community. During their ceremony, they read this quote from Amos Oz, an Israeli writer:
"I know that the tide is not an independent force, but merely the submission of the water to the movement of the moon in its orbit. And this orbit in its turn is subject to other orbits which are mightier far than it. And so the whole universe is held fast in the clinging grip of strong hands, the forces of Earth and Sun, planets, and comets, and galaxies, blindly erupting forces ceaselessly stirring in ripples of silence to the very depth of black space.”
He doesn't mention a creator or higher being - but this is used in prayer books around the world. Just a small paragraph in a prayer book that parallels science. It surprised me, and I thought it was beautiful. It made me think of Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time", which I recently read. Hawking wrote:
"One can imagine that God created the universe at literally any time in the past. On the other hand, if the universe is expanding, there may be physical reasons why there had to be a beginning. One could imagine that God created the universe at the instant of the big bang, or even afterwards in just such a way as to make it look as though there had been a big bang, but it would be meaningless to suppose that it was created before the big bang. An expanding universe does not preclude a creator, but it does place limits on when he might have carried out his job!"
I don't have any answers... only more questions. To be honest, I'm not bothered by the absence of answers under these circumstances. As a physical therapist, I embrace the ideas of evolution, but then I see the differences between the patients I'm treating day after day, and I think the beauty of the world and wonderful things the human body can achieve can only be possible with the influence of a higher being. Regardless of what you believe in, we're only here for a short time, so let's be kind to one another. The world needs more love right now.
"One can imagine that God created the universe at literally any time in the past. On the other hand, if the universe is expanding, there may be physical reasons why there had to be a beginning. One could imagine that God created the universe at the instant of the big bang, or even afterwards in just such a way as to make it look as though there had been a big bang, but it would be meaningless to suppose that it was created before the big bang. An expanding universe does not preclude a creator, but it does place limits on when he might have carried out his job!"
I don't have any answers... only more questions. To be honest, I'm not bothered by the absence of answers under these circumstances. As a physical therapist, I embrace the ideas of evolution, but then I see the differences between the patients I'm treating day after day, and I think the beauty of the world and wonderful things the human body can achieve can only be possible with the influence of a higher being. Regardless of what you believe in, we're only here for a short time, so let's be kind to one another. The world needs more love right now.
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