Like many Orthodox Jews, my grandfather never made an appointment or spoke of any event in the future without adding the words "God willing." So whether someone said "I'll see you next Tuesday," or "We will have dinner in an hour," Grandpa would invariably respond, "God willing." God might, after all, end the world sometime between now and the chicken soup. There was never any fear in his voice when he said this, just a simple reminding of himself and those around him of the nature of things.
Life required us to hold things loosely, not to be attached to a particular outcome. The lunch appointment, the pot roast, the graduation, or the marriage--all were in God's hands. To be alive was to wait for the will of God to reveal itself. And one waited with curiousity. A sense of adventure. Much the way you read a detective story at bedtime, struggling to stay awake in order to discover what is true, to see how things will turn out.
--from "My Grandfather's Blessings" by Rachel Naomi Remen
This woman's writing always speaks to me and helps adjust my perspective. She's written other books too, I read one at the Oregon coast a few summers ago and keep meaning to order it. The excerpt above is timely, as we wait to see what happens with the house, and also as Jeff will be coming up on decision time with his job not too long from now. I'm trying to remember!
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