Topic: Year of Hope
Learn to Love the Lice When campaigning for Dr. Paul we experienced the maddening complacency which sedates people from the pain of what is to come. Our frustration is about to change. We don't realize it yet, but the very economic measures our government is taking, which we loathe, will actually help us in the end.by Moonbow
(libertarian)
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Years ago I read an article in Guideposts Magazine that has stuck with me and applies to our current situation. I will paraphrase it as follows:
At Auschwitz, one of the Nazi concentration camps which imprisoned the jews during World War II, there was a barracks which had a particularly scathing outbreak of lice. Of course all of the barracks were infested but not to this degree. The inmates in this barracks were suffering anyhow but doubly so with this added burden. The itching and discomfort was becoming unbearable. They would wail and complain to God and pray for his mercy. There was a wise, old rabbi among them and he would try to console them but nothing was working. They would frequently beg him to ask God for help, thinking the rabbi had God's ear, and he did pray for relief but to no avail.
The guards came to the different barracks regularly to harrass, beat, and drag some of the inmates off to the ovens. All day and night screams could be heard throughout the camp and became a horrifying part of life there.
One night as they were preparing to say their prayers the rabbi announced, "Tonight we will thank God for the lice."
The inmates looked at him like he was insane. How could he ask them to do such a thing as thank God for the very affliction which was almost driving THEM insane? They discussed it among themselves and decided they had nothing to lose and nothing else had worked. Out of desperation (and trust and respect for the rabbi) they complied.
They began to notice the guards' visits were becoming less frequent and eventually stopped altogether, although they could hear the screams and beatings in the other barracks. They repeated the prayer every day in the coming months. The lice stayed with them without letting up until the Allies finally came and liberated the camp on that wonderful day.
They realized that God responded to their prayers of thanks by allowing that affliction of lice to spare them. The guards had avoided all contact with that barracks out of revulsion for the lice and fear of stepping foot in such a contaminated place and touching such loathsome people. The very curse which had plagued them ended up blessing them. How did the rabbi know?
Sometimes as we are facing a desperate situation against a formidable enemy we don't realize at the time that the negative can end up being a positive. The current economic crisis we are facing could be OUR blessing in disguise. The Fed, by hurrying their policies through, are unwittingly delivering us our victory. What we failed to do after 18 months of persuading, preaching and teaching, the Fed will be doing as a result of their rash and reckless policies. Our message which months ago fell on deaf ears when the sheople still had their houses, jobs and 401Ks, is now finding a receptive audience. They are starting to get it now! They now realize that our government does not serve us but the special interests. And like we always say, once they wake up they won't be going back to sleep. Think of the trouble and time this is saving us! The very thing which we feared is becoming the thing which will save our cause and deliver us that army we've been hoping for, for our revolution! Let's strike now while the iron is hot!
Oh, and by the way, don't forget to thank God for the lice.
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article are those of Moonbow only and do not represent
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Posted By: C. Al Currier
Date: 2008-10-19 09:10:20
Whoa there!
RE: Thank God for the lice
Jesus (of the Christian Bible) was known for wearing a seamless garment.
If you've spent months dealing with lice, one big lesson to learn is to watch for seams in clothing. If hygiene options are limited, a simple solution is do the Jesus thing and turn a T-shirt 'inside-out' so the lice have less places to hide.
Jesus was jew and a rabbi, but (unlike his religious contemporaries) learned to adapt to this world, bugs & all.
As a christian, I don't 'thank god' for lice, but instead ask God for wisdom in how to deal with them. Never will I love them.
In WW2, the US won the support of the Italian populace with a 'miracle' chemical called 'DDT'. Killing lice was more fun than 'Fascism'.
Posted By: C. Al Currier
Date: 2008-10-20 11:16:42
I didn't quite finish my post (above). I got attacked by rabid christians, rabid environmentalists, and rabid political scientists, with in-person lectures, scoldings and sermans.
Maybe I better not finish it!
If we use logic and reason to read the Bible it'll put the Bible scholars out of work.
If we use logic and reason with chemicals, it'll put the Environmentists out of work.
If we use logic and reason in politics, it'll put the Political Scientists out of work.
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