חרדת אדם יתן מוקש ובוטח ביהוה ישגב

 

cherdat adam yites mokesh uwoteach baYAHWEH yessugaw

 

 

This is completely in my experience.

 

 

As a child and long into adulthood, I was very fearful of people. This also had an effect when I was managing director at Diakonissenhaus Bethanien in Zurich. After the self-awareness week in Reichenschwand, it occurred to me inwardly that I was quite similar to King Saul. He paid more attention to his effect on people than of his dependence on YAHWEH. God therefore had to reject him. JAHWEH does not really want to but he has to if he wants to be true to himself.

 

My “being fired” in the deaconess house was therefore the inevitable consequence. My fear of the people – I wanted to make it as right as possible and shy away from criticizing – has set the trap for me.

 

 

This contrasts with confidence in JAHWEH. For me it was emotionally a long way. He is not that for God. God does not make mistakes. He willingly leads ZIG-ZAG. All people have to learn, whether they like it or not! God is gracious and powerful. By grace we can imagine a merciful God. ‘Powerful’ is more difficult to understand in the context of God. The ‘microbes’ helped me in this regard.

 

 

The daily offer of the Moravian Church in Isaiah 63:16 is very close to the subject:

 

 

“For YOU are our Father, for Abraham did not know us and Israel (Jacob) can not know us.

YOU YAHWEH,

‘our father, our Redeemer’

is your name from eternity. ”

(self-translation)

 

כי-אתה אבינו כי אברהם לא ידענו וישראל לא יכירנו אתה יהוה אבינו גאלנו מעולם שמך

 

ki-atah awinu ki awraham lo yedaanu weyissrael lo yakiranu atah YAHWEH awinu go’alenu me’olam tastcha

 

 

What’s your name from eternity? OUR FATHER, OUR SAVIOR!

 

 

The Jews, out of sheer respect for God, dare not pronounce the name. I was always impressed by the seriousness of the strictly Orthodox Jews, if I really found them real. They worship “the name” they do not know. Although fathers and saviors are also familiar terms in Judaism, they do not really ‘bear’.

 

 

The ‘OUR FATHER’ is the central prayer in Christianity, as Yeshua HaMashiach taught his disciples:

 

 

awinu shebashamayim yitkadesh shimcha

tawo malchutcha

yeasseh retzoncha kewaschamayim gam baaretz

lanu et lechem tzorkenu hayom

umechal lanu et chowoteinu cmo cal gam anachnu machalnu lechayaweinu

weal tewienu lidei nissayon ​​ela hatzilenu min hara

 

 

Supposedly that is a translation from Aramaic. I leave out the later ‘doxology’ here.

 

 

Our father, who is in heaven;

Blessed be your name!

Your kingdom come!

Thy will be done, as in heaven, even on earth!

Give us the bread, our need, today!

And forgive us our sins just as we have forgiven our debtors!

And do not bring us to the temptation!

But deliver us from evil!

(self-translation)

 

 

This prayer is also the heart of my ‘liturgy’ every morning. For each little sentence I try to imagine something concrete. In this way prayer comes to life.

 

 

Important to me is forgiveness. Each time we pray this prayer, we should check that we have forgiven our debtors. Only in this way can we be freed from our debts.