Words of Faith: It’s a blessing to be part of the community

I was at a community dinner recently at a Christian church. It’s a meal shared with everyone who comes, church member or not, and it attracts a wonderful spectrum of the community.

People young and old, including folks with substance addictions, all gathered in a church basement for a communal, home-cooked meal. I happened to sit near the gentleman responsible for planning an upcoming meal and was drawn in. I volunteered to make ice cream (as I agree that ice cream is a blessing that should be freely shared).

With 5,776 years behind us, Jews have come up with a LOT of blessings. And ice cream is in there. In Hebrew, a blessing is called “bracha.” Brachas come in many forms and are said at specific times during services and rituals. There are also a lot of other opportunities to say a blessing throughout the waking hours. We have a blessing for waking up, which acknowledges our lives and our mortality: “My God, the soul You have given me is pure. You created it, You formed it, and You breathed it into me. You guard it while it is within me, and one day You will take it from me, and restore it to me in the time to come.”

We have blessings for eating the first fruits of the season and for fulfilling commandments, like putting on a prayer shawl. There are blessings for making it safely through a dangerous situation or difficult journey. And sneezing: The Hebrew blessing for sneezing is “Lavri’oat.” We also have bracha for experiencing an overwhelming moment, something to which the only response intensely personal, a sigh, a shout of awe; taking a moment of appreciation and thanks for just being alive. Blessings are a thank you, and an acknowledgment of our relationship to the Divine, in whatever form we believe.

Unfortunately, blessings are not always found in moments of sunlit joy sparkling over a rainbow. It can be painful to remember blessings in these times, with the tragedies in Orlando, Tel Aviv and California. So many families have lost a loved one in shocking ways recently. From that comes so much fear and anger that we seem like a people splitting apart. It is difficult to find a level of gratitude for life and remember our connection to the Divine. But even as we try find a way to live with the pain and loss, there are blessings. Maybe not immediately obvious, but they are there.

Finding within yourself a strong thread of faith to sustain you, even in the pain, is a blessing. That thread, giving you the strength to eventually get up again, is a blessing. These threads remind you of who you are and what you stand for.

Our Independence Day is approaching. I think of the Founding Fathers of this country, and re-read the Declaration of Independence. They invoked their Creator and built on that with their beliefs. They spelled out rights for people that had never been so clearly written. They were willing to fight for liberty for all: “With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,” they pledged their lives in support of that fight.

Much has been said over the past 200 years about their faith, and willingness to die for their beliefs. I cannot say anything about their faiths, but I do believe that their vision of what life could be, and their willingness to sacrifice to achieve it, is a blessing. Sometimes, remembering that I was born here gives me a moment of absolute appreciation. I am grateful to be part of a community that cooks for its members and works to support each other. It is a bracha to be a part of a community that reaches out in support, and with a little planning, offers a bowl of homemade ice cream to all.

May the blessings of our country’s independence strengthen you in these days.

This story was originally published June 27, 2016 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Words of Faith: It’s a blessing to be part of the community."