Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you, hospital ” declares the Lord, nurse “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, rx plans to give you hope and a future.”

Thought for the Day: Discovered in the journal of a 15-year-old girl named Samsara, who lived sometime around 190 CE.

“I asked Rabbi why G-d sent the locusts and the drought to us. We’re good people, aren’t we? We follow the Law. Rabbi said not to presume we know the mind of G-d. He said G-d didn’t make the locusts come because we broke a law. Locusts just come now and then, I guess they like wheat as much as we do. I’ll have to think about that. Other rabbi’s say bad things happen because G-d is angry. But it seems like G-d is always angry then, and where is the hope in that? Everything in Torah teaches us to hope in G-d, and reminds us of a G-d who saves us all the time—from Pharaoh, from the Babylonians, even from the Romans!

Rabbi said that faith means always knowing G-d is on your side. Our Lord and Savior is always with us. I’m still not quite sure what that means, but Rabbi wouldn’t tell me any more. He said the fun is in figuring it out for yourself. ‘Always keep your hope in G-d, curious little one,’ he said. ‘Always trust G-d will guide you. There are answers to every question, but almost never the answers we desire or expect.’

Why do they always speak in riddles? It drives me crazy. Just answer the question! But I suppose, that is the answer then: hope comes from always having a question, not from having an answer.

I’ll have to think some more about that.”

End of journal entry

Prayer: May my questions always lead me to you, God who answers all needs, and  provides all hope, even when we’re surrounded by locusts. Amen.