String

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” -John 13:34-35

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. -John 15:5-8

Imagine there’s an infinte string stretching from one end of eternity to the other and we are all floating in the space around the string. All we have to do is take a hold of the string and while we’re each still floating in our own space as who we are, we can become connected. When I once said that a person whose only weapon was rage had already lost the war, I was talking about those people too angry, too hurt, or too proud to take hold of the string. They’ll always be in their own space alone, disconnected from the rest of the disciples of the Messiah and perhaps even from God. Eventually, those who do not take hold will be "picked up and thrown into the fire", though that is not what God desires.

Paul used the metaphor of connectedness through the Messiah, our “infinite string”, and we can relate like individual pearls on a necklace; separate and unique but still part of a whole. Yeshua said that he is the vine and we are the branches. Paul said that Jews and Gentiles are individual and unique branches connected to a common root. We can be different and distinct in our identies, roles, and duties, and yet part of a whole.

The hardest thing God will ever ask you to do is what you don't want to do. God is One. There are not two separate Gods for two peoples. There is One God for us all.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.. -Hebrews 12:11-15 (ESV)

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark, ignoring the light of the world. Look for the lamp who lights your path or you may become lost in the dark forever.

"A Jew never gives up. We're here to bring Mashiach, we will settle for nothing less." -Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh