Items

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  2020-05-24

  A stronger conversion to faith

  Today I curled my hair and wore earrings. A first in many weeks! Sunday worship is a huge part of our family life. We practice our faith daily and gather weekly with The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter Day Saints. Of course with quarantine, like everyone else, we can not gather. But it hasn’t stopped us from our worship. In our home, we continue to dress weekly for the Sabbath, mostly because my husband and oldest son are able to administer the sacrament for us, which we hold very sacred. After a short intimate family worship service we have an opportunity to hear uplifting words recorded and shared online from members of our local congregations. With days that mesh together, having a defining Sunday is refreshing and keeps my soul uplifted. I grew up in the LDS faith however, I had to come to decide on my own and gain my own testimony in it’s teachings. We honor the Bible and have a deep testimony in Jesus Christ as our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer. We also believe The Book of Mormon to be the word of God and goes hand in hand with our beloved Bible giving added testimony of the glories of Christ. I don’t recall one moment in my life that I can define as my conversion moment, as others may. I do remember moments where I had to question myself and my beliefs and decide who and what I wanted to follow and believe. My conversion has been a lifelong journey and process and everyday I draw closer to God is a day my testimony is strengthened. I have enjoyed this time of intimate worship with my family. As we slowly emerge from our cocoons I have heard others are rejoining their faiths of worship. It will be a little slower here in Belgium before we can return to our church family because of government safety measures. I do look forward to that day when we can meet and embrace again. But this time with my children has been one of the best faith building times in my life. (With a stubborn 6 year old and teenage attitudes one can’t help but question their why😉) And for that, I am completely grateful. The virus hasn’t been all that bad. ❤️
• 
  05/21/2020

  Havdalah Asia Poster

  Beginning on May 16, 2020, Jewish communities in Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Bangkok teamed up to hold weekly Havdalah services over Zoom, allowing us all, even isolated in our homes all across East Asia, to join together. Havdalah is a short service held every Saturday evening, marking the end of the Sabbath. A special candle is lit, and spices passed around and smelled, to remind us of the light and beauty of the Sabbath as we re-enter the regular week. Though we cannot experience the candle or the spices in the same way at a distance, and though reciting or singing prayers together over Zoom is difficult (given the lag time and so forth), it has been wonderful to have this opportunity for a sense of community and spirituality during this difficult time. I cannot speak for anyone else, but for me personally, I am a rather secular person and generally just find myself too busy to take the time to go to synagogue on any regular basis at all. But during a time like this, one finds that one appreciates that human connection, and connection to community, identity, heritage, spirituality, comforting traditions, more than usual. And as with academic conferences, simply speaking with friends & family, and many other things we are now doing over Zoom - not only in religious life but in general - we are building connections we might not have built otherwise. I don't know if the various Jewish communities of Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Bangkok have ever done these sorts of online communal events before; it's a wonderful feeling to "meet" people from all across the region. I hope it might continue.