-It sometimes takes a little more out of all of us to see the mere wonders of the universe. I imagine that the primary reason of why people of all walks of life, at one extreme circumstance or another tend to come closer to G-D, and come to realize the holy one's supremacy, is primarily because when we live life in the fast lane, which means we do things out of routine, or force of habit, so we tend to loose the ultimate value in that in which we are doing. Thus when we have for some troublesome reason become limited to those resources that were once readily available and basically at our disposal we tend to regret what we have lost being weather it is through our lifetime, or simply a fragment in time.
(2)Vickie
1/16/2008 1:03:00 AM AWESOME
Every now and then its so nice to be reminded in an unexpected way what we need to be doing. Blessings to the writer and actors of that scene!!!!
(3)pattijenkins
1/15/2008 4:12:00 PM sometimes when we need our father in heaven
All we have to do is reach out to him .Heis always holding onto our hand but sometimes our hand closes and locks Him out . So open your hands up in the air he will cover them and we will feel much better,if we just let Him take control because he is in control anyway.
(4)Larin R.
1/15/2008 2:36:00 PM Keeping me humble.
Both Chaim R. & Yoheved have significant comments. I do not want, however, to overlook the question in which the word "sometime" is easily understood as "always". As I approach 72 years, I do not recall a moment of loss of faith. I was reaised by godly parents (of blessed memory) and have maintained a growing faith through study and teaching (sharing what I've learned). It is true: "Nobody's perfect!" This old body has suffered much: every childhood illness of 60-70 years ago; ulcers; spinal injury; heart bypass surgery; ETC. Why? Perhaps it was the only way for this teacher of G-d's way over the past 55 years to be kept humble. G-d has kept me dependent on Him, not on what I know. Sometimes Hashem just needs to remind me to trust Him explicitly because He owns me and secures my faith.
(5)Adam
1/15/2008 12:41:00 PM I love it
I always found Independence Day to be an amusing, if not especially meaningful, movie. I especially love the fact that Jeff Goldblum + Will Smith- a Yid + a kid from West Philly- save the world.
Prayer is something that we can do at any time- good or bad. It can be as simple as saying 'thanks for this' when something good happens or 'help, hear my voice + be merciful to us' when something bad happens.
(6)Sharon
1/15/2008 11:40:00 AM Faith
Sometimes the only way for our faith to grow and strengthen is through His sending extreme circumstances thus He shows us how much we love Him. Our faith strengthens and our desire to serve Him increases.
(7)Cindy
1/15/2008 8:10:00 AM
Because we don't evoke faith in any other way.
(8)Chaim R.
1/13/2008 10:16:00 PM the POINT is to pray
Unfortunately we aren't cognizant of Hashem's providence every second, like we should be. As a result, Hashem sends us troubles or "extreme circumstances" in order that we should realize we are not in control and that without Him, we are nothing. If things were to go as we would like- just fine and dandy, everyone getting what they want, then when would we ever recognize G-d? Only the truly holy and righteous would constantly recognize that all the good we have is from Hashem. Therefore, i contend, that we NEED the bad times as a constant reminder of G-d's Benevolence and Loving-Kindness, because without the bad times, we would never be G-d conscious Jews, being thankful for the good times. So in answer to the question- the reason why it takes extreme circumstances to evoke our faith is because unfortunately, when things go our way, and we accomplish , we get "cocky" and wrongly believe that it was because of our efforts that we accomplish so much. So without bad things happening all we will think is how great we are and never be conscious of G-d, we'll never turn to Him for help. It's a flaw in our way of thinking/living that makes us wait for horrible tings to happen before we turn to Hashem for support.
(9)Yoheved
1/13/2008 9:28:00 AM Running to G-d
I am an older commentator, being older you can look back at many circumstances that have happened and glean from the wisdom. When we are young we tend to think we are invincible. Through life's extreme circumstances we learn otherwise. There is a vast ALONENESS we feel when we are facing the extreme. It is at that place... we become more aware of our NEED for G-d, our faith and our traditions. It is through this we become somewhat stabalized in our feeling of being alone and find a vast strength to hold on to. As we grow, in wisdom and age, our relationship to G-d is magnified and held even more precious. The VALUE we place upon this ..is what has kept Judaism alive for thousands of years. We are indeed a people who's G-d is G-d.
Like what you read? As a non-profit organization, Aish.com relies on support from readers like you to enable us to provide inspiring and relevant articles. Click here to support Aish.com.
If you would like to receive "Jewlarious" or other features via e-mail, please enter you email address here:
