Tag Archives: Blessings

Prayer for the dead

When one comes across a story like that of Kendrea Johnson[1], Victoria Martens[2] or Brian Williard[3], one may be moved by a desire to somehow help the deceased, and question what one can do, since the person is, after all, dead.

In the previous post, I said of Kendrea, “You just want to take her in your arms, hug her, and make all the darkness go away.”  Actually, you can — if, at that moment, she is willing to be embraced.  Your intuition will tell you her status in that regard at any given moment; or, may direct you at wholly unexpected times that, at this moment, that is so.  See “Following guidance.”

There is a Jewish expression, “z’l,” meaning “Zikhrono livrakha,” “May his memory be for a blessing.”  The corresponding form for a woman is “Zikhronah livrakha,” “May her memory be for a blessing.”  A corresponding Gentile expression is “O.B.M.,” “of blessed memory.”  Every time one uses such an expression, one honors the person who has passed on, and this is not without its effect beyond the veil.

[1]Related: Give up the word “deserve.”
[2]Related: Forgiving the cosmos
[3]Related: Grief and sublimation
 

Beans and rice

Trump’s Budget Would Partly Replace Food Stamp Benefits With Canned Goods

I respond to the first paragraph only. Nothing else. The first paragraph.

Beans and rice are nothing to despise.

I first applied for food stamps in 2004. I had had a professional career for 25 years, and for three generations not one member of my family had ever been subject to any form of “welfare.” Now I sat in a 40-by-40 lobby full of people, filling out the forms. Assets: –0–. Bank balance: –0–. Income: –0–. And I wept. I cried like a baby.

A sister-in-law, an #immigrant, responded to this news by waging a campaign for the family to disown me. She would later tell her husband she did not want to be married to a man whose brother receives food stamps. To my family’s credit, her campaign failed. I’ve been through tons of difficulty, and to their credit, my blood kin have never left me.

Beans and rice are nothing to despise.

In my current world as a homeless man, I deal with many, many people who persevere in need BECAUSE they despise every single blessing God provides. My only hope, currently an active hope, to improve my own lot, rests in being GRATEFUL for every blessing God provides.

Beans and rice, for example.

So, here we go: Poor people, listen up! Just in case you DON’T despise every single blessing God provides, it’s OK.

#Liberals like @Arthur Delaney stand ever-ready to despise it FOR you.

“Why do roses have thorns?” — Additional tags

If you have arrived at this post, you’ve most likely done so by searching on one of the below tags.  All pertain to this post:

Why do roses have thorns?

Tags:
– Blessings
– Folk religion
– Racism
– Religion of the ‘hood
– Resentment
– Resentments
– Roses
– Self-love
– Steven Seagal
– Theft
– Thieves
– Twelve Steps