A Great Lot of Religion and G*d

It has been quite a week for issues of religion and belief.

As we watched the reports from Haiti, MyMan and I were both moved by one story in particular. Apparently, at night, survivors gather near the locations of their now-ruined churches -- survivors who have no water, no food, nothing -- and they sing hymns to G*d. It's a stunning thought that despite everything, their spirits are not crushed; that they can come together to praise G*d.

Even our Rabbi says it is belief in G*d that keeps them alive, sustains them.

Meanwhile, a young man performing his regular Jewish prayers on a domestic flight in the U.S. was arrested and his plane diverted. Apparently, shaken-up flight attendants fearful of an in-air terrorist attack and also unacquainted with Jewish ritual phylacteries (aka tefillin), thought the little box might contain explosives and the leather bands were actually wires.

The story would be strange -- some might even find it amusing -- as it was reported. But the incident took place during the week of Parashat Bo, i.e., the week during which the Torah portion we study, called "Bo", includes in it two separate passages in which G*d commands the children of Israel to put on tefillin.

Now there are 52 weeks in a year. Is it mere coincidence that on the exact week in which Jews around the world are reading and studying this injunction, a young man is actually arrested for following these divine orders? You can't help but think that The Main Entity, above, is really trying to tell us something.

Finally, MyKid is a bit shaken-up himself this evening. At a playdate, a younger playmate practically started a fire by spraying a plastic action figure with deodorant and then holding it over a flame in the kitchen. The alarm went off and the retired grandmother responsible for the little boy woke from her nap to ask what happened. The boy was not honest with the caring older woman.

We all feel that we got our own wake-up call with this incident and MyKid will not be having play dates over there again.

I have an appointment this week with a dermatologist to look into my hair-loss issues.

It is very interesting to note that on December 27th, 2009, I got sick again, with some fever, coughing. It has since passed, but it really gave me a start, because it was as if my body was "remembering" being sick by being sick on almost the exact date one year later. It was New Year's Eve '08 when I suffered by first BOOP symptoms.

Strange stuff this BOOP.