Talking Religion

I have noticed that many of the Christian blogs I read have a certain way of talking about/describing God and religion that I just do not encounter among Jews. Don't get me wrong; I love my people very much and am fiercely proud of my origins. It's just interesting, and a little bit frustrating, that many Christians will let their spirituality run free while almost no Jews will. A prime example is the title of this blog. It is inspired by a line from psalm 91 (my favorite psalm): "He will instruct His angels to guide you on your paths, to carry you in their hands lest you stumble on a stone." (Siddur Sim Shalom translation) Despite the fact that psalms are a major part of Jewish liturgy, the title "Carried in His Hands" has a distinctly Christian ring to it because the vast majority of Jews simply do not talk that way.

Now I would like to talk about an issue that is burdening my heart, and that issue is the number of people needing prayer for various reasons. The one problem I have with reading so many blogs (21!) is that sometimes it seems as though everyone needs prayer at the same time. I am human; I can only pray for a finite number of people, and that number varies. There was a time when I could handle up to seven, but that time is not now. At the moment I can only handle two: me (I really am going through a lot right now what with therapy, bipolar disorder, and chronic pain, so I do not feel guilty inclluding myself in my prayers) and my little Reece's Rainbow girl, "Erin." I would love to be able to pray for more, but the two of us are taking all my spiritual energy right now.