I gather many people contract an illness and find God. Well unless he or she are on the E Train, there is little hope of that for me.
It's not that I don't believe. It's that I don't know.
I certainly don't believe in the vengeful God espoused in the First Testament and by such self appointed leaders as Robertson and Falwell. I also don't believe in a God that only looks after those who repeat the same empty words each day and night.
Don't get me wrong. I am Jewish and proud of it. That is my heritage. It has taught me respect of others, to honor family and how to tell a joke, among other things. By the way it also makes a great hot dog.
I also respect and envy those people who are truly religious. I'm not talking about those fakes who claim that they speak for God, and all those who dare to have an original thought be damned. I'm talking about those who are accepting and respectful of others.
I remember in Hebrew School, if someone was out of line, it wasn't unusual for the Rabbis to take a belt to him. We weren't even 13 yet. These people belonged in jail not in front of the Torah.
I have no problem with people who speak to God. I have no problem with people who think God speaks to them. My problem lies in those who think that God speaks through them. That illusion has done more damage through history than anything other than the tea party movement.
So you'll never catch me in a healing service. But, if the opportunity presents itself like Koufax and Greenberg before me, out of respect, I won't play in a World Series game that falls on Yom Kippur.
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