Why do we blog? Or better, for whom?

One of the blogs I read regularly (see the link to A Simple Jew on the right), blogged today about having nothing to say. And decided that quality was better than quantity. Some people blog daily, even if their post is a "one-liner". Others blog only with news, or significant thoughts. I fall somewhere in between.

I thought I started blogging to see if I would talk less, but I discovered that it did not affect how much I talked. (Sorry PPC.) So why do we blog? For ourselves? For an audience? Do all our posts need to be cute? Provocative? Controversial? Some blogs are one or the other. Mine are all three and more. I blog because writing lets me make my thoughts concrete, and I blog for myself. However, blogging is still a public forum. Anyone can/could find and read my blog. I like having readers, and comments. If those who choose to read my blog also enjoy what I have written, then that is an added bonus.

More on G-d and the Tsunami

From Kings I (Chapter 19), the story of the prophet Elijah:

The prophet Elijah, fleeing for his life from King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, ran to the mountain of the Lord much in need of divine help. There the Lord appeared to him.

"There was a great and mighty wind, but the Lord was not in the wind. There was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. Finally there was a kol d’mama daka , “a still small voice.” And the Lord was in the still small voice."

From this we can learn that while G-d created nature, G-d is not within nature. Nature works according to its own laws.

(From a recent sermon delivered by a local Rabbi.)

The Tsunami as a deliberate act of G-d?

I belong to several listservs. Even where the Tsunami is completely off-topic, the subject has come up. All have discussed what can be done to help. In one major case, along with what we can do, and whether or not the US has done enough, and whether or not the UN is doing what it should, and whether or not the countries are politicizing the aid being accepted, are posts on the cause of the Tsunami.

No, they aren't discussing earthquakes and after shocks, they are discussing G-d. Was this "act of G-d deliberate?" "Was it meant to teach 'us' a lesson?"

I do not believe that natural disasters happen to large groups of innocents to send a message to one particular religious group or another. Especially half-way around the world! It is the height of vanity and conceit to think that G-d created the Tsunami because of "our actions", and even if some part of you thinks this even remotely, it shows incredible depths of arrogance and lack of compassion to explore the ideas in the midst of a conversation concerned with helping others recover from such a terrible disaster.

Will G-d really bring disaster on the world to punish for sins? Will he kill the innocent and the guilty alike? Has he done this before? Was the Holocaust a punishment to the Jewish people for not keeping Kosher????

There are Bible phrases that can be quoted and interpreted that will make some believe that this is a warning from G-d. I believe it comes as a warning to us that our tsunami, earthquake, hurricane, and weather warnings need to be improved, strengthened, and increased. G-d helps those who help themselves.

I believe in a gentle, loving, compassionate, forgiving G-d. I will continue to pray for the dead and the living, wherever destruction hit. I will give money for aid, and help in any way I can from such a distance. I will pray that it never happens again. And I will continue to believe in a G-d who emphasizes his attribute of mercy above all others.

Changing Family Roles

For almost our entire marriage, my husband has worked full-time, and I have worked part-time outside the home. Some of that time I was at school, but clearly my schedule was much more flexible than his. In all those years, I was generally responsible for making sure that the house ran, the children got where they needed to be, the bills got paid, and there was food on the table.
Three-and-a-half years ago, I went to work full-time for a consulting firm in Northern Virginia. Even though only one child was still at home, it seemed that I still had all my old responsibilities, including making sure appointments were made and kept, cooking and shopping, making lunches for son and husband in the morning, etc. Slowly things deteriorated. I was constantly tired, always grumpy or angry, and felt overwhelmed and stressed. My husband and I had some talks, and he took over half the regular grocery shopping, and made an effort to come home earlier and prepare supper occasionally. He also helped with appointments (driving not making) and some picking up.
In October, my husband left his job and started looking for something else. Since then he has slowly taken over more responsibilities. Most of the driving, most of the shopping, most of the cooking.
But I have noticed a strange phenomenon. The more he does, the less I want to do. It's as if our positions were reversed. Now I'm the one who comes home and wants to put my feet up. He's the one who wants me to: help with supper, empty the dishwashers, feed the cat, make a salad, etc. Is this because he is resisting, or because he suddenly discovered how exhausting a house can be.
Do you suppose if I am more understanding now, he will continue to be understanding when he goes back to work?