Beyond discouraged

[InChrist]

The threat is coming from the demagogue and traitor, Trump.

As it is I am in grief over so much happening in this world. If I did not have peace from the Prince of Peace, I would would be overcome with hopelessness.
I suggest taking your eyes off Trump. He is temporary and a distraction. God is eternal and has a plan much greater that anything in this temporal world.
Life is short, eternity is forever.

 

[PearlSeeker]

To me, the basic drift of halacha and the Gospel is love with respect for our fellow man [includes women & kids], and to act on that with the attitude of "Whatever happens, happens", which Gandhi called "disinterested action". IOW, do that which is right and let the chips fall where they may.

Something similar is also in the Bhagavad Gita (I don't know if this is the best translation):

You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either.​

Perform every action with you heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the fruits. Be even-tempered in success and failure: for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga.​

Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender. Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahma. They who work selfishly for results are miserable.​

 

[PearlSeeker]

For those of you who do not know me, I'm a Jewish member of the forum. I attend a conservative synagogue via zoom, and I aspire to keeping Jewish law, the covenant between Israel and Hashem.

I'm writing because my discouragement is reaching the point where it is affecting my spiritual walk.

They say that it rains in every life, but some people live in Seattle. I live in Seattle. WIthout going into detail of the many tragedies and problems my life has had, let's just say that I it's been more than I can really deal with -- I've ended up in the hospital more than once from a nervous breakdown.

For many years now, I've been of the mind that I cannot explain why bad things happen to good people, whether to me or to the many other innocent people I see who get bashed by life. No religion really seems to offer an explanation. My response has always been, "God sees the whole picture, so it makes sense from his POV. Trust him, know that he loves and hurts with me."

But somehow, that understanding is simply not carrying me anymore. The pain has been too long and too much. And not just my personal suffering. I'm so discouraged by the downturn in the world and in my country. I'm afraid that the US is on the brink of fascism. Workers who in the 50s could buy their own homes, today cannot even afford apartment houses. I emotionally am unable to handle what seems to be the proliferation of violent crimes, especially rape, molestation, and human trafficking. When I was young, I could trust society to provide reasonable opportunities for people -- that is no longer the case. Workers are once again surfs for the rich and powerful. And its not just these big things -- the cultural decay can be seen in day to day rudeness, such as yelling at service workers at food drive throughs.

I basically just no longer want to live in this world anymore. I'm still here because it would hurt my kids if I left. But I think about death a lot, wishing it came my way.

This effects me religiously -- I just see no evidence that God loves anyone. Sure, I still think there is a creator, it's not like I'm going to curse God and die... but what eveidence is there that he cares about any of this?

I'm just so tired.

Psalm 13

1To the conductor, a song of David. אלַֽ֜מְנַצֵּ֗חַ מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד:
2How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? בעַד־אָ֣נָה יְ֖הֹוָה תִּשְׁכָּחֵ֣נִי נֶ֑צַח עַד־אָ֓נָה | תַּסְתִּ֖יר אֶת־פָּנֶ֣יךָ מִמֶּֽנִּי:
3How long will I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart by day; how long will my enemy have the upper hand over me? געַד־אָ֨נָה אָשִׁ֪ית עֵצ֡וֹת בְּנַפְשִׁ֗י יָג֣וֹן בִּלְבָבִ֣י יוֹמָ֑ם עַד־אָ֓נָה | יָר֖וּם אֹֽיְבִ֣י עָלָֽי:
4Look and answer me, O Lord my God; enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death. דהַבִּ֣יטָֽה עֲ֖נֵנִי יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֑י הָאִ֥ירָה עֵ֜ינַ֗י פֶּן־אִישַׁ֥ן הַמָּֽוֶת:
5Lest my enemy say, "I have overwhelmed him"; my adversaries will rejoice when I totter.

Sorry to hear that Indigo. I hope you get better soon.

For many years I used to find joy, comfort and security in my faith in the personal caring biblical God and heaven. But this gradually fell apart like a house of cards when I started to question things with critical thinking, thinking about things that happened in the world... What if my beliefs were false? Probably. This caused in me an existential crisis. I had to rediscover meaning and value of simple life that we all know...

I don't know your situation but I know some things that might help (in addition to usual therapy, medicine, good diet, enough movement in nature, good sleep...). Recently I have read a book Plato, not Prozac! by Lou Marinoff. This book introduced me to philosophical counseling. Some problems require a philosophical approach...

Maybe you are familiar with Viktor Frankl - a Jewish psychiatrist who founded logotherapy (logos = meaning in life). He experienced Nazi concentration camps and witnessed how even in such extreme circumstances being driven by some meaning helped people to survive. He describes this experience in his book Man's Search for Meaning. Also worth mentioning is a book based on Frank's lectures in 1945 - Yes to life: In Spite of Everything.

Take care bro!

 

[Bree]

For those of you who do not know me, I'm a Jewish member of the forum. I attend a conservative synagogue via zoom, and I aspire to keeping Jewish law, the covenant between Israel and Hashem.

I'm writing because my discouragement is reaching the point where it is affecting my spiritual walk.

They say that it rains in every life, but some people live in Seattle. I live in Seattle. WIthout going into detail of the many tragedies and problems my life has had, let's just say that I it's been more than I can really deal with -- I've ended up in the hospital more than once from a nervous breakdown.

For many years now, I've been of the mind that I cannot explain why bad things happen to good people, whether to me or to the many other innocent people I see who get bashed by life. No religion really seems to offer an explanation. My response has always been, "God sees the whole picture, so it makes sense from his POV. Trust him, know that he loves and hurts with me."

But somehow, that understanding is simply not carrying me anymore. The pain has been too long and too much. And not just my personal suffering. I'm so discouraged by the downturn in the world and in my country. I'm afraid that the US is on the brink of fascism. Workers who in the 50s could buy their own homes, today cannot even afford apartment houses. I emotionally am unable to handle what seems to be the proliferation of violent crimes, especially rape, molestation, and human trafficking. When I was young, I could trust society to provide reasonable opportunities for people -- that is no longer the case. Workers are once again surfs for the rich and powerful. And its not just these big things -- the cultural decay can be seen in day to day rudeness, such as yelling at service workers at food drive throughs.

I basically just no longer want to live in this world anymore. I'm still here because it would hurt my kids if I left. But I think about death a lot, wishing it came my way.

This effects me religiously -- I just see no evidence that God loves anyone. Sure, I still think there is a creator, it's not like I'm going to curse God and die... but what eveidence is there that he cares about any of this?

I'm just so tired.

Psalm 13

1To the conductor, a song of David. אלַֽ֜מְנַצֵּ֗חַ מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד:
2How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? בעַד־אָ֣נָה יְ֖הֹוָה תִּשְׁכָּחֵ֣נִי נֶ֑צַח עַד־אָ֓נָה | תַּסְתִּ֖יר אֶת־פָּנֶ֣יךָ מִמֶּֽנִּי:
3How long will I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart by day; how long will my enemy have the upper hand over me? געַד־אָ֨נָה אָשִׁ֪ית עֵצ֡וֹת בְּנַפְשִׁ֗י יָג֣וֹן בִּלְבָבִ֣י יוֹמָ֑ם עַד־אָ֓נָה | יָר֖וּם אֹֽיְבִ֣י עָלָֽי:
4Look and answer me, O Lord my God; enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death. דהַבִּ֣יטָֽה עֲ֖נֵנִי יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֑י הָאִ֥ירָה עֵ֜ינַ֗י פֶּן־אִישַׁ֥ן הַמָּֽוֶת:
5Lest my enemy say, "I have overwhelmed him"; my adversaries will rejoice when I totter.

Hi IndigoChild,
Im so sorry to hear you are feeling this way and I can assure you, you are not alone. The world we live in has really taken a dive and its very obvious that life in this world is most certainly very difficult. Its certainly not the world God intended for us to life....Genesis 1:28 says "God blessed them and said be fruitful..." Gods blessing would not include all the trouble we see in the world today.

The only words of comfort i would like to offer is to assure you that God is not responsible for the way things have become in this world and he absolutely 100% does care and feel for all mankind. His love is never beyond our reach even when we are in our darkest hour.

The scriptural account of Job was recorded for us for this very reason. Job suffered greatly every possible calamity that a man can encounter, sickness, death of his children, loss of his material goods etc. The account clearly shows us who was responsible for Job's suffering because God wants us to know why things have turned out the way they have. The adversary of God has caused harm to mankind, but God has provided his support and assurances that he will put things right.

You can even see the faith of David himself who suffered many trials in his life, but he always looked hopefully to his God and he was always assured of Gods love and support.
Psalm 113: 5 As for me, I trust in your loyal love;+
My heart will rejoice in your acts of salvation.+
6 I will sing to Jehovah, for he has richly rewarded me.

The Pslams 37 show what God will soon do when it says:
3 Trust in Jehovah and do what is good;+Reside in the earth,h and act with faithfulness.+
4 Find exquisite delighti in Jehovah,And he will grant you the desires of your heart.
ג [Gimel]
5 Commit your way toj Jehovah;+Rely on him, and he will act in your behalf.+
6 He will make your righteousness shine like daybreak,And your justice like the midday sun.
ד [Daleth]
7 Keep silent before Jehovah+And wait expectantlyk for him.
Do not be upset by the man Who succeeds in carrying out his schemes.+
ה [He]
8 Let go of anger and abandon rage;+
Do not become upset and turn to doing evil.

9 For evil men will be done away with,+
But those hoping in Jehovah will possess the earth.+
10 Just a little while longer, and the wicked will be no more;+
You will look at where they were, And they will not be there.+11 But the meek will possess the earth,+
And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.