This morning I came across two articles about faith and rituals. Scott Sager describes his take on faith while Joe Sterling describes the loss of his teenaged son, the rituals of the shiva, and his attendance at the Yizkor sevices.
But I know what it did for me: my faith adds joys, but more — it sustained me when my father died, when the doctor tried to turn my oldest daughter around in utero and the numbers on the fetal heart monitor started dropping like crazy.
Everyone needs something to get them through the brake-ups, the college rejections, the lost wallets, the deaths. Ceremony and liturgy told me what to do at those times, but faith is my companion when facing what I feel.
....This is the place I want my daughters to find, to have, to help and sustain them and feed them when they have a hunger no amount of ice cream or cookies will satisfy. For me, that is faith.
Read full article: http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/43/bp_thedad.html
Joe Sterling Talks about losing his teenage son.
The aftermath of this horror helped us gain a profound respect for organized religious life, Jewish and otherwise. After the death knocked us numb and we couldn't reason or plan anything, a synagogue committee devoted to helping those who grieve leaped into action, and the labors of those on the committee impressed us greatly.
People who didn't know us personally were there to help us navigate through the shock of death: They prepared our house for the shivah, the Jewish mourning period, and prepared food for us and the scores of friends and relatives who showed up at our door.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20100915_Joe_Sterling__Navigating_the_land_of_grief_after_the_death_of_my_son.html#ixzz12jubtD00
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