~ Rabbi Julius Gordon
One of the brothers in the monastery used to say, half-jokingly, "My God is all-merciful, but not necessarily all-knowing." After his death, I remarked that now he would discover that God is all- merciful because God is all-knowing.
When I was novice director in the monastery, I used to tell the novices that love is not blind, but that love sees more. Now I find out someone else says that, too. I have not been able to find out anything about the good rabbi yet, but I'll keep looking. I found a number of other variations on the theme, one of which you see in the illustration.
One slight tweak of the rabbi's statement: I don't think God chooses to see less, because God sees all. But God sees so much more that the things we think are incredibly hateful are consumed in the fire of divine mercy. In some way, God loves our blemishes and transforms them into beauty marks. God does that, not us. But we can try to learn to do it when we look at others and perceive what we think are blemishes and scars.
When I was novice director in the monastery, I used to tell the novices that love is not blind, but that love sees more. Now I find out someone else says that, too. I have not been able to find out anything about the good rabbi yet, but I'll keep looking. I found a number of other variations on the theme, one of which you see in the illustration.
One slight tweak of the rabbi's statement: I don't think God chooses to see less, because God sees all. But God sees so much more that the things we think are incredibly hateful are consumed in the fire of divine mercy. In some way, God loves our blemishes and transforms them into beauty marks. God does that, not us. But we can try to learn to do it when we look at others and perceive what we think are blemishes and scars.
For all I know, I heard this quote somewhere and forgot where it came from. That happens a lot ...
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