Last week I received a phone call from someone whose father had died. The mom had died not too long ago Terry McLaurin Redskins Jersey , after several years of struggling with cancer. She used to be a 'regular? shul attendee, but had stopped coming because she was angry at God. She felt God had deserted her, had stopped taking care of her, and so she was going to stop visiting God in shul. The son and I had a long and very fruitful chat about all this. When I suggested to him that her anger at God was a perfectly normal reaction, he was surprised. He thought that most folks maintain their faith in God, no matter what. I believe that is not the case Montez Sweat Redskins Jersey , but rather that most of us have a rather fluid faith system-when things are good, we believe; and when things are not so good, we do not.
When we were infants, everyone else took care of us-our parents, our older siblings, our family members and our doctors. We had to make no decisions on our own Dwayne Haskins Redskins Jersey , our lives were in the capable hands of others. It was only as we grew up and older that we realized that we ourselves had to take on the responsibility for living our own lives and making our own decisions. No longer could we depend on others to keep us safe. Now, we were the main actors in our lives.
All that is fine and normal, until death or illness enters our life. When that happens, we find ourselves wanting to return to the years of our childhood, we want to again rely on others to make us well, to return us to life. When our doctors and caregivers Da'Ron Payne Redskins Jersey , in whom we place so much hope, do help, we feel safe again; but when they cannot turn away illness and sickness, we become angry. We know that they are but mortal human beings, doing the best they can. And we know that sometimes the human body has its own agenda, which no one can change. Still Landon Collins Redskins Jersey , we are angry. Sometimes the anger is directed at God, whom we would like to believe can 'do anything,? even cure diseases which have no cure. Our heads know the truth, it is our hearts which break when pain overwhelms us.
The anger is normal, but it is not truly anger. It is fear that we feel. When we have to change the way we have lived for so many years; when we become homebound or when we need our bedpans and walkers, when we have to depend on dialysis and adult diapers; when we spend too much time on the ICU floors and we begin to realize with certainty that our lives are coming to their end Alex Smith Redskins Jersey , we are scared. That fear comes out as anger, but the anger we feel is the fear that we will not be able to enjoy life as we used to. We are afraid that death is coming closer which each passing day.
I would claim theologically (and you are certainly entitled to disagree) that it is only when we are fearful that God can come into our lives. From joy we might gain happiness and satisfaction, but from pain we can glimpse more closely the values toward which we can reach. God is the force in the Universe that gives us hope, that allows us to move forward when we feel like giving up. No matter how many or how few days and weeks and months are left to us, we have the ability to make decisions about how we live, how our lives will look Sean Taylor Redskins Jersey , and what we want to happen before we die. The ability to look beyond pain is one of those precious gifts God gives to us. Even when we are filled with fear, or perhaps especially when we are filled with fear, God walks with us, just as God did when we were infants and young babes in our parents? arms.
God will be with us always. All we have to do is believe.
NBA Betting Totals Home Sports Articles | January 24, 2012 Super bowl betting tip 1: Always look for the best value. If one sportsbook is offering -110 odds on the bet and the other sportsbook is offering -105, then always take the -105. Simple Wes Martin Youth Jersey , isn?t it? Though Super Bowl betting odds may seem complex, there are actually just few simple types of bet you can place.
Home-Away courts have little to do with gambling, or at least that?s what they think. There aren?t a lot of gamblers that take into consideration that NBA teams often play differently depending which court they are playing. Teams will have different personalities when they are playing at home, as opposed to playing on the road. A smart bettor will study how teams perform in front of their home fans and how they do away from the friendly confines of their home arena.
There are teams that try to put on an offensive show when playing at home and concentrate on defense more during away games, while other teams will do quite the opposite. There are also teams that play almost the same no matter which city they are in. Knowing the tendencies of each team can give you an advantage and even add a few bucks to your bankroll, especially in?NBA betting?totals.
The Differences of Home and Away Back in the 2006-2007 season Bryce Love Youth Jersey , there were 16 teams that showed an average difference of four or more total points between their Home games and their games during on the road or during Away games.
Using Detroit as an example, the Pistons outscored the opposition by an average score of 96-92 in all of their home games, for an average of 188 total points. On the occasion that Detroit was on the road, the Pistons outscored the opposition by an average score of 94-89, an average of 183 points. As we noticed, there?s a 5 point differential between Detroit?s home and away games.
In this case Terry McLaurin Youth Jersey , we?re looking for differences for four or more points between home and away performances and we will bet totals accordingly. In the case of the Pistons, we would look to bet over the total when the Pistons were playing at home and look to bet under when Detroit in on the road. The Pistons managed to go over in 26 of their 47 home games and under in 31 of their 47 away games last season and that includes the playoffs.