History is repeating itself

Anxiety rules my mind at the moment...so I must pray. Will You hear and answer this convoluted prayer? Have mercy, Lord.

Hunger makes some people "hangry," but I become anxious and sad.

The Holocaust happened a relatively short time ago in history, yet society is repeating itself. The government is stripping our rights away little by little, one by one...forcing small businesses to close, requiring papers for permission to go about our daily lives, and now there's talk of unvaccinated children having to wear yellow arm bands. Does any of that sound familiar?

 

The Nazis targeted Jews and other minority groups...but in the Covidiocracy, anyone who thinks critically is a target.

All of these reminders of the Holocaust have led me to contemplate my Jewish ancestry from a biblical perspective. Ironically, being Jewish didn't matter much to me before I became a Christian. Yet the matter seems to be important to God, since the Bible constantly references God's covenant with the Jewish people. Though Jews aren't more important than Gentiles to God, they have a unique spiritual purpose to fulfill.

The Holocaust happened almost fifty years before I was born, yet as a Jew and as a human being, I still lament. Starvation is perhaps the most defining feature of Hitler's torture techniques....When we think of the Holocaust, we think of the emaciated prisoners.

Images of Holocaust victims bring to mind ascetic yogis...but what is the difference between starvation as torture and as a spiritual practice?

When I was anorexic, I would fast as a form of punishment...such as when I sinned and felt disappointed in myself. Yet a spiritual fast is never supposed to be a punishment. According to the Bible, fasting is about breaking free from the chains of bondage...quite the opposite of treating oneself like a tortured prisoner.

Therefore, I believe the best way to respond to the Holocaust, particularly as a Jewish person myself, is not to practice excessive fasting, but to be free...to live an abundant, delightfully human life.

The Holocaust weighs heavily upon me now, and is too much...especially knowing that the world may soon experience another one that is even worse. Therefore, God, I pray that You would take this burden that I am not strong enough to carry, and was never meant to carry. After all, I am just a young woman...and even grown men cannot bear staring straight at the horrors of the Holocaust.

The evil of the world is too much...yet God is good, and He has never led me astray. Lately I feel lonely, though, far from God. The stress is intense, and I sense demonic oppression. Thinking about the Holocaust, I suppose, directs the mind toward the demonic domain.

We are all just people, with a flawed and sinful nature. Yet God makes sinners...saints. The spiritual journey is individualized; our experiences and sufferings are unique. A saint is a temple of the Holy Spirit, not to be mistreated through excessive asceticism; I must live the life I have been given.