AMEN – 7 – In Memoriam

[Must Own: AMEN – Prayers and Blessings from Around the World – 1]

 To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.

———————————————

Extolled and hallowed by the Name of GOD

throughout the world which He has created,

and which He governs according to His righteous will.

Just is He in all His ways, and wise are all His decrees.

May His kingdom come and His will be done in all the earth.

Praised be the Lord of Life, the Righteous Judge, for ever more.

Whatsoever praise we would render unto God,

Howsoever we would adore the Most High,

We would yet fail to give Him the glory due to His great Name.

Even in the hour of bereavement and sorrow,

We feel the majesty of GOD and will give thanks,

for His manifold mercies.

May the Father of peace send peace to all who mourn

and comfort all the bereaved among us.

Amen.

JEWISH: MOURNER’S KADDISH

—————————————————

The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me lie down in green pastures;

He leadeth me beside the still wataers.

He restoreth my soul;

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me;

Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;

Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

[CHRISTIAN] OLD TESTAMENT: The 23rd Psalm

[HEBREW SCRIPTURES, Tehilliym 23]

———————————————————

Remember thy LORD within thyself,

Humbly and with awe, below thy breath,

at morn and evening.

And in the nighttime, also hymn His praise

at the setting of the stars.

THE KORAN

———————————————————

For everything there is a season,

And a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to seek, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to cast awa;

A time to rend, and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;

A time for war, and a time for peace.

[CHRISTIAN OLD TESTAMENT] ECCLESIASTES 3

[HEBREW SCRIPTURES:  QOHELETH 3]

———————————————————————

From the unreal lead me to the real;

From darkness lead me to light;

From death lead me to deathlessness.

HINDU

————————————————

O Thou Shining One,

Thou knowest all our ways.

We utter praise of Thee!

Thou art woman, Thou art man;

Thou art youth, Thou art maiden . . .

Thou art the dark blue bee,

Thou art the green parrot with red eyes,

Thou art the thunder-cloud, the seasons, the seas.

Thou art our Father. Thou art our Mother.

Thou art our Beloved Friend.

HINDU

————————————————————–

So live that when the summon comes

To join the innumerable caravan

Which moves to that mysterious realm

Where each shall take his chamber

in the silent halls of death.

Thou go not like the quarry slave of night

scourged to his dungeon

but sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust.

Approach thy grave

like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him

and lies down in pleasant dreams.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

————————————————-

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

THE BEATITUDES—MATTHEW 5:3-12

 

AMEN – 6 – Prayers for Peace

peacepic

Photography by Kulbir Thandi
Must Own: AMEN – Prayers and Blessings from Around the World – 1

Must Own: AMEN – Prayers and Blessings from Around the World – 1]

God is creator.

Glory be to Thee, O GOD, and praise.

Blessed is Thy Name and transcendent Thy majesty.

There is no GOD but Thee.

I turn my face to Him

Who gave being to the heavens and the earth in true devotion.

Not for me the fellowship of false worship.

Truly my worship and my obligation,

my living and my dying,

are GOD’s alone, the LORD of all being.

For there is not GOD beside HIM.

So is it laid upon me as one who is surrendered.

ISLAM:  SALAT

———————————————————

May the heads of all countries and races be guided to understand that men of all nations are physically and spiritually one:

physically one, because we are the descendants of common parents –the symbolic Adam and Eve;

and spiritually one, because we are the immortal children of our Father, bound by eternal links of brotherhood.

Let us pray in our hearts for a league of souls and a united world.

Though we may seem divided by race, creed, color, class, and political prejudices, still, as children of the One GOD we are able in our souls to feel brotherhood and world unity.

May we work for the creation of a united world in which every nation will be a useful part, guided by God through man’s enlightened conscience.

In our hearts we can all learn to be free from hate and selfishness.

Let us pray for harmony among the nations, that they march hand in hand through the gate of a fair new civilization.

PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA

——————————————-

This we know, all things are connected,

Like the blood which unites one family,

All things are connected.

Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth.

Man did not weave the web of life;

He is merely a strand in it.

Whatever He does to the web,

He does to himself.

CHIEF SEATTLE OF THE DWAMISH TRIBE

——————————————-

Weave for us a garment of brightness;

May the warp be the white light of morning,

May the weft be the red light of evening,

May the fringes be the falling rain,

May the border be the standing rainbow.

Thus weave for us a garment of brightness,

That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,

That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,

O our Mother the Earth,

O our Father the Sky.

NATIVE AMERICAN

——————————————————-

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall feed;

their young ones shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The suckling child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adders den.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain;

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

ISAIAH 11:6-9

————————————————

AMEN – 5 – Prayers for Recovery and Renewal

[Must Own: AMEN – Prayers and Blessings from Around the World – 1]

 

 

LORD, open our eyes, that we may see you in our brothers and sisters.

LORD, open our ears, that we may hear the cries of the hungry, the cold, the frightened, the oppressed.

LORD, open our hearts, that we may love each other as you love us.

Renew in us Your spirit LORD, free us and make us one.

 

 

MOTHER THERESA

 

——————————-

 

GOD, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.

The courage to change the things I can.

And the wisdom to know the difference.

Grant me patience with the things that take time.

Tolerance of the struggles of others that may be different from my own.

Appreciation for all I have

And the willingness to get up and try again.

One day at a time.

 

THE SERENITY PRAYER

 

 

——————————————

 

 

And then all that has divided us will merge,

And then compassion will be wedded to power,

And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind,

And then both men and women will be gentle,

And then both women and men will be strong,

And then no person will be subject to another’s will,

And then all will be rich and free and varied,

And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many,

And then all will share equally in the earth’s abundance,

And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old,

And then all will nourish the young,

And then all will cherish life’s creatures,

And then all will live in harmony with each other and the earth,

And then everywhere will be called Eden once again.

 

 

JUDY CHICAGO

 

 

——————————————–

 

Music Accompaniment/UC Sanctuary Hymns CD

Precious LORD, take my hand,

Lead me on, let me stand.

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;

Thru the storm, thru the night,

Lead me to the Light,

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

When my way grows drear,

Precious, linger near,

When my life is almost gone,

Hear my cry, hear my call,

Hold my hand lest I fall;

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

When the darkness appears

and the night draws near,

And the day is past and gone,

at the river i stand,

Guide my feet, hold my hand;

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

Lyrics, Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-19930; Melody, George Nelson Allen (1812-18770)

AMEN – 4 – Prayers for Marriage

Photography by Kulbir Thandi Must Own: AMEN – Prayers and Blessings from Around the World – 1

Photography by Kulbir Thandi
Must Own: AMEN – Prayers and Blessings from Around the World – 1

In the name of God,

I ______, take you ______,

to be my wife/husband,

to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better for worse, for richer for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish until we are parted by death,

This is my solemn vow.

THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER

 

 

From the beginning oc Creation

God made them male and female.

This is why a man must leave father and mother,

and the two become one body.

So then,  what God has united, man must not divide.

This is the Gospel of the LORD.

MARK 10:6-9

————————————————

O LORD our GOD,

Who grant us what we ask for our salvation,

Who hath commanded us to love each other

and to pardon each other our transgressions,

Bless, Lord, Giver of good things,

Lover of mankind,

these two servants of Thine

who love each other

with a love of the spirit

and have come to Thy Holy Temple

wishing to receive Thy sanctification and benediction;

Grant them unabashed faithfulness and sincere love,

and just as Thou gave Thy holy disciples and apostles

Thy peace and love,

Grant them also to these,

Christ our God,

Giving them all these things necessary for salvation and eternal life.

11TH-12TH CENTURY

———————————————

Let the earth of my body

be mixed with the earth my beloved walks on.

Let the fire of my body

be the brightness in the mirror that reflects his face.

Let the water of my body

join the waters of the lotus pool he bathes in.

Let the breath of my body

be air lapping his tired limbs.

Let me be sky, and moving through me

that cloud-dark SHYAMA my beloved.

HINDU LOVE POEM

————————————————–

We have taken the seven steps.

You have become mine forever.

Yes, we have become partners.

I have become yours.

Hereafter, I cannot live without you.

Do not live without me.

Let us share the joys.

We are word and meaning, united.

You art thought and I am sound.

May the nights be honey-sweet for us;

May the mornings be honey-sweet for us;

May the earth be honey-sweet for us;

May the heavens be honey-sweet for us.

May the plants be honey-sweet for us;

May the sun be all honey for us;

May the cows yield us honey-sweet milk!

As the heavens are stable, as the earth is stable,

as the mountains are stable, as the whole universe is stable,

So may our union be permanently settled.

HINDU: THE SEVEN STEPS

———————————-

The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands behind our wall,

gazing in the windows, looking through the lattice.

My beloved speaks and says to me:

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;

For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth,

The time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth its figs,

and the vines are in blossom;

They give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one,

and come away.

SONG OF SOLOMON 2:8-13

 

AMEN – 3 – Prayers for Children and Rites of Passage

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Photography by Kulbir Thandi
Must Own: AMEN – Prayers and Blessings from Around the World – 1

 

BAR/BAT MITZVAH

HE who blessed our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

May HE bless the bar mitzvah boy and the bat mitzvah girl,

Who have come up to honor God and the Torah.

May the Holy One, blessed be HE,

protect and deliver him and her from all distress and illness,

And bless all her and his efforts with success among all Israel their brethren;

and let us say, Amen.

——————————————-

Blessed are YOU, our GOD and the GOD of our ancestors,

Who has enabled us to further the generations

with courage, and blessed us with the new life.

Blessed are YOU, the GOD of Life,

Who has given me strength in this difficult hour

and blessed me with the joy of taking part in the act of creation.

Blessed are YOU, our GOD and the GOD of our mothers and fathers,

for the miracle of birth and the joy of parenthood,

For the beauty and love and the harmony of the life cycle.

RABBI ELYSE GOLDSTEIN

—————————————————————-

God spake these words, and said:

I am the LORD thy GOD;

Thou shalt have none other gods but Me.

Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow to them, nor worship them.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy GOD in vain.

Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day.

Honor thy father and mother.

Thou shalt do no murder.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor.

thou shalt not covet.

Lord have mercy upon us,

and write all these Thy Laws in our hearts,

we beseech Thee.

HOLY COMMUNION DECALOGUE

FROM THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER

 ——————————————————-

The highest good is like water.

Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.

It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.

In dwelling, be close to the land.

In meditation, go deep in the heart.

In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.

In speech, be true.

In ruling, be just.

In business, be competent.

In action, watch the timing.

No fight: No blame.

LAO TSE

 ———————————————

To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitute perfect virtue.

They are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness.

CONFUCIUS

———————————————–

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray Thee, Lord, Thy child to keep:

Thy love guard me through the night

and wake me with the morning light.

 BEDTIME PRAYER

 

MUST READ: Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity

This is another excellent book by James D. Tabor, author of Abrahamic Faith and The Jesus Dynasty among other books. Like we do other books featured as MUST READ and sometimes MUST OWN, we provide enough for you to get interested in securing a copy for yourself, downloadable from amazon.com on a kindle app.

 

CONTENTS

Map: The World of Paul

Timeline of Major Events and Figures

PREFACE:  Discovering Paul

INTRODUCTION:Paul and Jesus

ONE: Crhistianity Before Paul

TWO ;  Rethinking Resurrection of the Dead

THREE:  Reading the Gospels in the Light of Paul

FOUR:  Last But Not Least

FIVE:  A Cosmic Family and a Heavenly Kingdom

SIX:  A Mystical Union with Christ

SEVEN:  Already But Not Yet

EIGHT:  The Torah of Christ

NINE:  The “Battle of the Apostles”

APPENDIX:  The Quest for the Historical Paul

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT JAMES D. TABOR

NOTES

INDEX

—————————————————————-

PREFACE:  Discovering Paul

I have spent my thirty-year career as a scholar of Christian origins investigating the silence between two back-to-back statements of the Apostles’ Creed, namely that Jesus was “Conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary” and that he “Was crucified, died, and was buried, and on the third day He rose again from the dead.” [The Apostle’s Creed]

 

Is it not striking that this oldest and most foundational Christian creed jumps from Jesus’ birth to his death and resurrection, entirely skipping over his life?

 

How did it happen that the way Jesus came into the world, and how he left — Christmas and Easter— came to define Christianity itself?  Here Catholics, mainstream Protestants, and Evangelicals all agree.  To be a Christian is to believe in the virgin birth and resurrection of Christ, and thus to participate in the salvation Christ brought to the world as God-in-the-flesh.  Where did this emphasis on the “entrance” and “exit” points of Jesus’ heavenly existence come from, and how did it achieve such centrality—even above that of Jesus’ life and teachings?

 

This book is a historical investigation of the origins of this particular way of defining and understanding Christianity.  As we shall see, such an understanding of the Christian faith, confessed by millions each week in church services all over the world, originates from the experiences and ideas of one man—Saul of Tarsus, better known as the apostle Paul—not from Jesus himself, or from Peter, John, or James, or any of the original apostles that Jesus chose in his lifetime.  And further, I maintain that there was a version of “Christianity before Paul,” affirmed by both Jesus and his original followers, with tenets and affirmations quite opposite to these of Paul.  This is the lost and forgotten Christianity of James the brother of Jesus, leader of the movement following Jesus’ death, and the Christianity of Peter and all the apostles.  In other words, the message of Paul, which created Christianity as we know it, and the message of the historical Jesus and his earliest followers were not the same.  In fact, they were sharply opposed to one another with little in common beyond the name Jesus itself.  Discovering how a state of affairs came about has been the quest, as well as the adventure, of my life.

 

I began my first serious encounter with the apostle Paul over forty-five years ago as a college student.  I took a Greek reading course called “The Letters of Paul.”  That course introduced me to Paul and his world in such a profound way that I was never the same.  Day by day, phrase by phrase, we read through Paul’s writings in the original Greek in a small seminar setting.  We discussed every aspect of Paul’s letters, their ideas, and their background.  I became “hooked for life” on Paul and that college course marked the beginning of my lifelong spiritual and intellectual quest to understand Paul and his place in the formation of Christianity.  Like Jacob wrestling the angel at the river Jabbok, I lay hold on Paul and swore that I would not let go until I understood his complex ideas and probed his mysterious depths.  In this book I share with my readers what I have discovered over the past forty-five years.

 

I decided by my sophomore year in college that I wanted to pursue a professional career as a New Testament scholar with majors in Greek, Bible and history.  I had never encountered anything so fascinating, so alluring, as the historical investigation of the origins of Christianity.  It was as if one were probing into the very foundations of our civilization in an effort to assay our most basic assumptions—what the Germans call our Weltanschauung. Philosophy, history, and literature all fascinated me, but it was this “history of ideas,” and particularly these religious ideas, that became my intellectual passion.

 

Years later, at the University of Chicago, I wrote my Ph. D. dissertation on Paul, and my first book, Things Unutterable, dealt with Paul’s mystical experiences and his unique message set in the context of the Hellenistic religions of his time.  Over the span of my academic career I have taught a course simply titled “Paul”– and I half-jokingly tell the students the first day that Paul is one fo those people for whom a last name is not necessary, much like Elvis or Madonna.  From my perspective, my class on Paul is the best of a half-dozen I regularly teach.  I am sure the course is quite different today from when I first taught it, but each time I have begun the course I have introduced it with what I intend to be a startling assertion:  Paul is the most influential person in human history, and realize it or not, he has shaped practically all we think about everything.  I have in mind, of course, the West in particular, but since Christian culture has had such a global spread, I think my somewhat extravagant language about “human history” can be justified.  As we will see in this book, the foundations of Western civilization —from our assumptions about reality to our societal and personal ethics—rest in a singular way upon the heavenly visions and apparitions of the apostle Paul.  We are all cultural heirs of Paul, with the well-established doctrines and traditions of mainstream Christianity deeply entrenched in our culture.  In contrast, Jesus as a historical figure, that is, a Jewish Messiah of his own time who sought to see the kingdom of God established on earth, has been largely lost to our culture.

 

Visit any church service, whether Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Greek Orthodox, and it is Paul, and Paul’s vision of Jesus, that are central—in the theological language of the hymns, the words of the creeds, the content of the sermons, the invocation and benediction, and of course, the rituals of baptism and the Holy Communion or Mass.  Whether birth, baptism, confirmation, marriage, or death, it is predominantly Paul who is invoked to express meaning and significance.

 

The fundamental doctrinal tenets of Christianity, namely that Christ is God “born in the flesh,” that his sacrificial death atones for the sins of mankind and that his resurrection from the dead guarantees eternal life to all who believe, can be traced back to Paul, not Jesus.  Indeed, the spiritual union with Christ through baptism, as well as the “communion” with his body and blood through the sacred meal of bread and wine, also traces back to Paul.  This is the Christianity familiar to us, the Christianity of the creeds and confessions that separated it from Judaism and put it on the road to becoming a new religion.

 

There is a late pseudonymous document in the New Testament known as 2 Peter that offers the cautionary warning that the letters of “our beloved brother Paul” contain “things hard to understand” (3:16), indicating that struggling with Paul was an experience we moderns share with the ancients.  Paul has often elicited passionately dichotomous reactions from his more engaged readers. He is loved and hated, praised and blamed, depending on one’s evaluation of the validity of his claims about himself and his teachings, as well as one’s view of orthodox Christianity.  For many others, including many of my students, his writings are initially opaque, dense, and irrelevant to the modern world.

 

My challenge as a teacher, and now here as a writer, is to open up the fascinating world of the life, mission, and message of Paul in a way that makes clear what we all owe to Paul, and what is at stake.  I write for Christian believers as well as those of any religion, or no religion, who want to understand the roots of our culture.  Readers, whether familiar with Paul or not, should expect to be captivated, challenged, and surprised by the portrait of Paul that emerges.  This is not the pious apostel of well-worn ecclesiastical tradition, Sunday school piety, or arcane theological discussions.  What you will encounter here is Paul afresh, as he emerges in his own words, with his own voice, drawn exclusively from his earliest authentic letters.  These are then set in the context of a critical reading of the New Testament and other ancient texts, some of which have come to light only in the last one hundred years.

 

The last week of May 2010, I travelled to Rome to carry out my final piece of research for this book. That trip in some ways was a culmination of my lifelong study of Paul.  But for me the trip involved much more than research.  It was very much a personal pilgrimage.  My purpose was to visit the newly discovered tomb of Paul at the Basilica San Paolo, or St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, one of the four major papal basilicas and the second largest, next to St. Peter’s.

 

Just before Christmas in 2006, Vatican archaeologists announced that they had unearthed an ancient stone sarcophagus, dated to the fourth century A.D., just below the central altar of the basilica and containing what they believed to be the skeletal remains of Paul.  It was inscribed Paulo Apostolo Mart, Latin for “to Paul Apostle Martyr.”  Tradition says that Paul was beheaded during the reign of the emperor Nero at the spot now identified as Tre Fontane, at the end of the Via Laurentina.  He was then buried two miles to the north, along the Ostian Way, the ancient road from Rome to the port of Ostia on the Mediterranean Sea.  A necropolis just outside the basilica, dating from the first century B.C. to the fourth century A.D., has been partially excavated, indicating that the basilica was built over an ancient cemetery. There are references to this cemetery in the second century A.D.  In A.D. 324 the emperor Constantine built a small basilica at the site to receive pilgrims visiting Paul’s tomb.  On June 29,2009, marking the traditional anniversary of Paul’s death, Pope Benedict XVI announced that carbon-14 dating tests had been conducted on the skeletal remains inside the sarcophagus.  Vatican scientists had carried out their clandestine mission during the night to avoid arousing public attention.  They drilled a small hole into the sarcophagus, allowing a tiny probe to be inserted to retreive some small bone samples as well as fabric.  The tests on the bones confirmed a date from the late first or early second century A.D.

 

As an academic historian and scholar of Christian origins, I would not normally be drawn to a traditional Catholic site marking the tomb or relics of one of the saints, since the vast majority lack any historical authenticity.  But this tomb of Paul seems different.  It does indeed appear possible that these skeletal remains are those of Paul.  For me that possibility cast this particular holy place lin an entirely different light.

 

My visit to the tomb of Paul late that May afternoon was profoundly meaningful for me.  I exited the B-line at the metro stop marked “Basilica San Paolo” and walked down the Via Ostiense, the modern street that traces the route of the ancient Roman road, with ancient ruins along the way visible between parks and modern apartment buildings.  As I neared the cathedral grounds I felt an emotional quickening inside.  A towering stone sculpture of Paul is at the main entrance.  In his right hand is a sword and in his left a book.  The cathedral is magnificent, absolutely breathtaking in its artistic and architectural beauty.  A late afternoon Mass was in progress and the strains of Gregorian chants mixed with Latin prayers could not have been more appropriate for the setting.  I stood briefly before the towering sculpturesw of Peter and Paul that guarded the way to the central altar, and gazed at the paintings and frescoes all around, but my focus was the area behind the central altar, now prepared for visitors tho descend down a flight of steps, four and a half feet below the present floor level.  There one can see the sides of the stone sarcophagus behind a modern brass grating, resting in its ancient crypt that had remained hidden from view for the past seventeen hundred years.  Kneeling there in front of the tomb, surrounded by devoted pilgrims and curious visitors snapping photos, I was deeply moved.  Somehow that physical proximity to what might likely be Paul’s earthly remains marked a milestone to my forty-five year search for the historical Paul.  I felt I had come full circle.  What follows are the startling but enlightening results of that quest.

May 31, 2010

Rome

 

AMEN – 2b – Prayers for Faith – Assorted

[Must Own: AMEN – Prayers and Blessings from Around the World – 1]

Protect me, O LORD;

My boat is so small,

And your sea is so big.

Traditional Christian Fisherman’s Prayer

____________________________

Our eyes may see some uncleanness,

But let not our mind see things that are not clean.

Our ears may hear some uncleanness,

But let not our mind hear things that are not clean.

SHiNTO

________________________________

Great becomes the fruit,

Great the advantage of earnest contemplation,

When it is set round with upright conduct.

Great becomes the fruit,

Great the advantage of intellect, when it is set round with earnest contemplation.

The mind set round with intelligence is set quite free from the intoxications:

From the intoxication of sensuality,

From the intoxication of  becoming,

From the intoxication of delusion,

From the intoxication of ignorance.

BUDDHA’S SONG

AMEN – 2 – Prayers for Faith

Shema

Photography by Kulbir ThandiMust Own: AMEN – Prayers and Blessings from Around the World – 1

Shema Israel:Old Testament

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel:  

The Lord our God,

The Lord is one.

And thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.  And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.

 

Not for April Fools

[UPDATE 2017:  This monthly “aid” for searchers has been replaced first by “Yo Searchers!  Need Help?”  Then to use a word closer to our cultural Filipino/Tagalog word for strangers, we resorted to “Hoy” shortened to “Oy!”  And it  became — “Oy Searchers!  Need Help?” for every month of every year.  The original intention was to help web visitors find the topic (search term) they entered that made them land on many websites including this website.

Rather than figuring out a witty title for every month such as–

we resorted to a uniform title after running out of ideas and confusing searchers.  It is not surprising the visitors still click this link in past years, there is much to learn from answers provided to past searches.  Go check!—Admin1]

 

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4/30  “biblical diet under the messianic covenant” – There is no “messianic covenant” but there is a covenant with Israel.  The Torah given on Sinai includes the ‘biblical diet’ which is what we have featured in a series of articles here.

Biblical Diet 1

4/30  “descargar gratis ebook etica del sinaí de bunim” – S.M [Simon Markovich] Dubnow

4/30  “why did moses tell that he has uncircumcised lips in exodus 6:12″ – Exodus/Shemoth 6-b: Do you have “uncircumcised lips”?

4/30  “dostoyevsky right and wrong are reduced to preference” – “Quid is veritas?” – 5 – “Without God, everything is permitted.” – Dostoyevsky

4/30 “truth about tanakh” – The Knowledge that Awakened Me

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4/29 “where judaism differed abba hillel silver” – Abba Hillel Silver:  Where Judaism Differed 

4/29 “extent of natural revelation” – What does man learn from Natural Revelation?

4/29  “what explains the difference between haman’s emotional instability and esther’s patience and self control?” – Insights on the book of ESTHER

4/29 “outsourcing in tanakh” – Sinaite/Atheist – 3 – Q&A: What would the TORAH say about today’s business practice of “outsourcing”?

4/29 “who’s afraid of the god of the old testament” – “Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God?” 1

4/29 “aish” cult – 

4/29 “elushkin slavery torah” – TORAH 101 – Rabbi Joseph Telushkin on TANAKH

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4/28 “understanding the shema” – Understanding the SHEMA

4/28 “new history of early christianity charles freeman review” – Must Read: A New History of Early Christianity by Charles Freeman

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4/27 “as the deer” – “Soul Thirst” – Art by AHV@S6K

4/27 “ted neeley hugs” – This is a feature in the post JCS – “Confessions of an Idolater”

4/27 “does the expanded artscroll siddur wasserman have prayers for sabbath and the feasts?” –  Yes, the ArtScroll Siddur contains all the prayers for Sabbath and feasts.

4/27 “dramatic and situational irony in exodus”- Dramatic Ironies in the Book of Exodus

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4/26 “project prolog in future tense” – Must Read: Future Tense – Prologue

4/26 “future tense in project prolog” – Must Read: Future Tense – Prologue

4/26 “exodus moses uncircumcised lips meaning”-  Exodus/Shemoth 6-b: Do you have “uncircumcised lips”?

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4/25 “the death of death neil gillman pdf”-  Neil Gillman/Must Read: The Death of Death

4/25 “season of our rejoicing”- Sukkot – The Season of ‘Our’ Rejoicing

4/25  “kazancakis last call to the sin” – Tempted by ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’? Kazantzakis’ Jesus: “Salvation cannot be founded on lies.”

4/25 “ernest van den haag jewish” – Ernest Van Den Haag/MUST READ – The Jewish Mystique 

4/25 “rabbenu tam exodus 34:6″ – Exodus/Shemoth 34:6 – The Rabbis – “God’s Nature in 13 Attributes”
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4/25 “build me a sanctuary that i may dwell”- Exodus/Shemoth 25 – “Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.”
4/24 “joshua 1: 8-9” –  Yahuwshuwa’ – יהושע

8. This Çepher haTowrah will not depart out of your mouth, but you will meditate on it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written. Your way will push forward and then you will be mindful.

9. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and alert; do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for יהוה your ‘Elohiym is with you wherever you walk.
4/24  “suray kurzweil” – Exodus/Shemoth 25 – “Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.”

4/24 “the law,sinai, and the sermon on the” – The Sermon on Sinai vs. The Sermon on the Mount

4/24 “isaiah 48:12-13″ – [HNT] Yesha’yahuw 48

12. Hearken to me, O Ya’aqob, and Yisra’el my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13. Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.

4/24 “10 plagues of egypt and egyptian gods” – EXODUS: The 10 Plagues–Judgment of YHWH upon Egypt’s gods

4/24  “tabernacle exodus” – Exodus/Shemoth 25 – “Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.”

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4/23  “go down and bring ‘aharown up with you” – 

4/23  “what is no religion is an island heschel” – No Religion is an Island – Abraham Joshua Heschel

4/23 “truths and insights from the book of esther” – Insights on the book of ESTHER

4/22  “noli me tangere original cover” – Guess who wrote this?

4/22  “torah is written by rebbies over centuries” – 

4/22 “is my name in the book of life bible study” – Life, Death, and the Book of Life

4/22  “yhwh sos…”—…SOS for our FWH! – January Searches

 

4/21 “god according to god gerald schroeder” – MUST READ: God According to God [A Physicist Proves We’ve Been Wrong About God All Along]

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4/21“the revelation no mount sinai” – The Moment at Sinai” — An Essay by Abraham Joshua Heschel

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4/19 “abraham joshua heschel the call of transcendence” – “The Moment at Sinai” — An Essay by Abraham Joshua Heschel

4/18  “athanasius creed man made”/”man made creed of athanasius” – Man-made Creeds: Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381) and Athanasius (c.430?)

4/18  “ernest van den haag the jewish mystique” – Ernest Van Den Haag/MUST READ – The Jewish Mystique 

4/18 “rambam choose life spirituality” – “Choose Life” . . . how?

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4/17 “uncircumcized lips meaning” – Exodus/Shemoth 6-b: Do you have “uncircumcised lips”?

4/17  “why was seth in adam’s image” – Q&A: Why is Seth the one “in the likeness of Adam” instead of firstborn son Cain?

4/17  “sermon on the mount mount sinai similar” –  The Sermon on Sinai vs. The Sermon on the Mount

4/17 “is yeshua passover lamb or yom kippur goat?” –Thank you for this question; there will be an article posted to answer this.

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4/16 “joshua 1:8” – 4/16 “”blind faith” websters” – Blind Faith vs. Belief based on Evidence

 

4/15 4/15 “why is everything on earth based on half truth” – Thank you for this question, there will be an article to be posted that will attempt to answer this.

4/15 “13 attributes of mercy picture of messiah” – Exodus/Shemoth 34:6 – The Rabbis – “God’s Nature in 13 Attributes”

4/15  “who is that spirit in 1 samuel 16 14-23” – 1 Samuel 16:14-23 – “an evil spirit from God”?

4/15 “contrast between sermon on the mont and mont sini” – The Sermon on Sinai vs. The Sermon on the Mount

4/15 “the aids of march” – The “Aids” of March

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4/14 “quid est viritas jesu pilate” – Pilate: ‘Quid est veritas?’ – Gospel Truth? – 1

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4/13 “shabbat is a another dimension” – The Sabbath: A Tabernacle in Time

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4/12 jesus bllod hyphen” – Jesus – “The Hyphen that Unites Us”

4/12 “quote no religion is an island heschel” – 

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4/11 “commentary leviticus 12-15 – tanakh – ויקרא Leviticus/Wa’iyqrah 12-15 – Again, do we have to read these chapters?

4/11 “shiphrah and puah” – ART by BBB@S6K – Hebrew Midwives: Shiphrah and Puah

4/11  “the great isaiah scroll chapter 1 verse 10 english”the great isaiah scroll chapter 1 verse 10 english” – DDS (Dead Sea Scrolls) in English ONLINE? Thank Israel Museum and Google!

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4/10 “meaning of death gillman” – Neil Gillman Must Read: The Death of Death

4/10 “messiah’s coming in hebrew 6000” – The Messiahs – 3 – The Second Coming of YHVH

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4/9 “angel names is the tanakh – As far as we know, only two malakiym are mentioned by their names:  Gabriel and Michael.  The malak referred to as ‘ha satan’ is more a descriptive title, ‘the adversary’ — any ‘messenger’ could be given the assignment of being ‘adversary’ as in Job and other texts.

4/9 “exodus tabernacle picture” – Exodus/Shemoth 40: So Moses finished the work.

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4/8  “without god everything is permitted bertrand russell” – “Quid is veritas?” – 5 – “Without God, everything is permitted.” – Dostoyevsky

4/8  “is genesis 3 15 is israel” – Prooftext 1a – Genesis 3:15 – Who is the “woman”?

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4/7 “cyber eavesdropping” – Want to cyber-eavesdrop?

4/7 “the whole bible dead sea scrolls included read online” – DDS (Dead Sea Scrolls) in English ONLINE? Thank Israel Museum and Google!

4/7 “peter c diet” – Biblical Diet 4c: Peter’s Vision in Acts 10:9-23

4/7 “what does uncircumcised lips mean” – Exodus/Shemoth 6-b: Do you have “uncircumcised lips”?

4/7 “new testament vengeful god statements” – This is a strange mix — new testament and vengeful god, normally the latter is associated with old testament; nevertheless, here are articles that clear up the wrong impression: Is our God a “jealous, wrathful, and a vengeful God”? – 2

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4/6 “ha-satan” – Is God the author of “evil”?

4/6 “what’s in a name bible study” –  What’s in a name? Another bible study!

4/6  “egypt and the sinai and peniel” – 

4/6 “meaning moses man uncircumcized lips exodus 6:30″ – Searchers are fascinated with that phrase “uncircumcised lips”; Exodus/Shemoth 6-b: Do you have “uncircumcised lips”?

4/6 “yhvh stop create sabbath” – This searcher probably means YHWH stopped creating to rest on the Sabbath and he/she would be correct according to the Bereshiyth creation week account.  There are enough posts here about the Sabbath, please go to Update Site Contents and go through the list.

4/6 “shemoth” – This is the Hebrew title for the second book in the Torah, 5 books that record the words of YHWH as given to His mediator Moshe.  Christians are familiar with the Greek title “Exodus”; as serious students of God’s word it is time we learn the original Hebrew word and meaning of the titles.  This is the first step for any serious student of TNK.

4/6 “hebrew scriptures” – The Hebrew Scriptures are ‘stand alone’ and not a prequel to another Scripture the teaching of which is ALIEN and runs counter to it.  Do not ever confuse the Hebrew Scriptures with the “Old Testament” of the Christian Bible. Get yourself an English translation done by Jews, not Christians. There are two recommended in this website:  the ArtScroll Tanach, but better yet, His Name Tanakh by Benmara of hearoyisrael.net, the latter costs you nothing but a visit to the website and a free download on your computer.  What translator spends 20 years working and then gives it away for free? Only a special person touched by YHWH who wishes only that others would be familiar with the True God and His self-revealed Name.

4/6 “Isaiah 48:16 is not talking about yahshua” – If you read the whole of Isaiah, not just one verse that is handpicked to be a “prooftext” supposedly pointing prophetically to the Christian ‘messiah’, you will easily identify who is speaking, Who is being spoken for, who is being addressed, who is being referred to as “servant”, who is “My” and “Me”, and so on.  Reading has simple rules, so simply follow those rules . .  without infusing extraneous material that do not belong to the text and the whole context of the book. This is the problem with “prooftexts” taken out of context.  If you really wish to know the True God better, drop everything you’ve been previously taught and start over . . . in Bereshiyth. Please check out one of our links Jewish Isaiah 53 if you wish to know how to read the book of Yesha’yahuw.

4/6 ” images uncircumcises lips” – We do not have “images” of “uncircumcised” lips since this is more a metaphor in the biblical text, meaning “unclean” or “impure” or “fleshly”.  Interestingly, this is probably the most frequent search term entered by web visitors; it seems to fascinate many that lips could be “uncircumcised”.  In Hebrew this would be called “lashon hara” or impure speech, sins of the tongue; how many are guilty of this?  For the biblical reference, please go to; Exodus/Shemoth 6-b: Do you have “uncircumcised lips”?

4/6  “is there true justice in this world” – Is there true justice on earth?

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4/5 “design moses tabernacle” – Exodus/Shemoth 25 – “Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them

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4/4 “what is the word most commonly used in the hebrew scriptures to refer to ‘null gods’ or ‘non-gods’?” – The English word “Idol” is a non-god; HNT/Benmara uses ‘elohiym for “god” (any non-god) and the upper case ‘Elohiym for YHWH, the One True God.

4/4 “orthonymous” – Bart D. Ehrman – Must Read: Misquoting Jesus

4/4 “irony in book of exodus” – Dramatic Ironies in the Book of Exodus

4/4 “what is the heavenly court in job” – Ha Satan in YHVH’s Heavenly Court?

4/4 “ernest van den haag” – MUST READ – The Jewish Mystique by Ernest Van Den Haag

4/4 “http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:http://beta.scxserv.com/sinai_old/2012/08/02/qa-1-samuel-281-25-benmara-on-the-witch-of-endor/” – Q&A: 1 Samuel 28:1-25: Benmara on the “Witch of Endor”

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4/3 “why does the book of job seem repetitive” – If you’re referring to the exchange between YHWH and the adversary “ha satan”, it is a literary device used by the author to emphasize the exchanges between the two characters in the book, where you get insights about both and their relationship with each other; if you didn’t notice it the first time, you will definitely notice — or you should anyway — by the 3rd repetition, as ha satan is given permission to add to the woes of Job within the limits set from the very first conversation.

4/3 “his name tanakh about” – “HNT” or “His Name Tanakh” is an English translation of the Hebrew Scriptures undertaken by Benmara of hearoyisrael.net., a one-man project of 20 years.  He is on his 8.0 revision and still working on perfecting it for a final edition. The uniqueness of this translation is the printing of the Name YHWH in Hebrew letters, the Tetragrammaton which Hebrew Bibles do not print and instead substitute “HaShem” or “The Name” as AST/Artscroll Tanach does.  For this reason, HNT is the translation we prefer to quote from in the articles in this website; where the translated text is unclear or difficult to comprehend, we supplement from AST.  HNT is a free download in the translator’s website [http://hearoyisrael.net/hisname/his-name-tanakh.html]; please read his instructions or Translator’s notes when you do so.

4/3 “is the vengeful god of moses the same loving god of jesus” – The “god of moses” is YHWH; the “loving god of Jesus” is most likely YHWH too, since Jesus was a Jew who worshipped the God of Israel and as such was Torah-observant. Please read the entry in 4/2 for further clarification.

4/3  “a vengeful god”/”our god is a vengeful god” – please see 4/2 entry, just below this one.

4/3  “what is the difference between exodus god and the sermon on the mount” – The Sermon on Sinai vs. The Sermon on the Mount

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4/2  “vengeful jealous god” & “jahve hostile vindictive god jealous” – 

4/2  “did jesus whip himself in last temptation of the christ” – Tempted by ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’? Kazantzakis’ Jesus: “Salvation cannot be founded on lies.”

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sabbath pic

4/1 Entries:

  • ilya schor , the tree,meaning of the hebrew letters”
  • ilya schor , the tree of life , the sabbath,meaning of the hebrew letters”
  • ilya schor painting the tree of life, what is the meaning of the hebrew letters on the tree”

At first these 3 entries didn’t make sense but since the searcher kept amplifying his/her search terms, the light-bulb turned on and pointed to a photo featured on the article on The Sabbath, featuring Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Prologue/Epilogue. We missed seeing the details that this searcher saw when he evidently scrutinized the art illustration and discovered the Hebrew alphabets in the almond buds at the top of the 7-branched Tree of Life that was designed like a Menorah.  The answer for this is being researched, and will be posted in a sequel, either here or, if long, in a separate article.

 

4/1  “kristen falch jacobsen” —Checking this out.

4/1 “cyber eavesdropping” –  Want to cyber-eavesdrop? 4/1 “jewish history sacrifices” – TORAH 101: What were the animal sacrifices all about? – Jewish Perspective (from Rabbi Joseph Telushkin:Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know about the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History) 4/1  “uncircumcised red lips” – Well, not quite “red” but perhaps this post will do:

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[It’s April. Already? When we added this feature to direct searchers using specific terms to the article that might best answer specific questions, we had intended it to be an ‘aid’  . . .  only to discover we ourselves were benefitting just as much because we were being educated about the minds of other Truth-seekers who do land in this website.  There are so many out there much like ourselves far more than ‘zero’ among our family/friends/Christian circles who distance themselves from what they think is just another “religious cult” that will fizzle out when our generation pass on. This website is reaching–and hopefully educating– ‘strangers’ out there and the only clues we have about each are —

  • where he/she’s from
  • what time/date did he/she visit,
  • and of course, what specifically was he/she looking for.  

The biggest surprise was that visitors do return and return, remembering titles and details of articles posted, rereading them, possibly seriously studying and hopefully checking out facts presented to their own satisfaction. We also discovered what interests our readers most are the articles showing the most number of ‘clicks’, probably according to the provocative ‘title’ of the article. Hopefully they were satisfied and if not, they were provoked to thinking seriously and asking more questions as all seekers should do (so sorry, our FORUM just doesn’t seem to work!). The statistics are so gratifying and definitely encouraging for our S6K to continue providing what we’ve discovered is interesting to indefatigableTruth-seekers like ourselves but who have no access to resources we have collected in our virtual library. Please remember that we are all ON THE WAY, none of us have not arrived and probably never will on this temporal side of life.  As far as YHWH’s Truth that He has revealed, there is much to study and never a lifetime enough!  We are grateful to the custodians of Israel’s Scriptures and Jewish TNK scholars today who help clear the fog for beginner-gentiles. The resources we share are often interpreted with a newer and fresher approach relevant to our times and our respective cultures, but faithful to Scripture, for as much as we are able to understand from the English rendering of the Hebrew text. For those who embark on this same journey, Sinaites are ‘pilgrims’ just farther ahead of others,  leaving clues and aids for those behind who have already found this path we call the Way to YHWH’s revelation on Sinai.  These search entries are in themselves precious to us because they indirectly prod us to do more homework, not quite satisfied with the post, or perhaps it led to more questions left unanswered. Reminder:  we have reversed the order, most recent entry first, older last.–Admin1@S6K]

 

Yiddish Wisdom

[NSB@S6K—In two previous posts about recommended books, [Ernest Van Den Haag/MUST READ – The Jewish Mystique Abba Hillel Silver:  Where Judaism Differed – 1] I  acknowledged the source of both books as some man I had not met, yet had been sending books about Jews/israel to me through my eldest brother.  I thought that such a gracious gesture from a stranger whose only information about me from my brother, is that I have interest in things-Jewish.  That was enough for him to start sending me books from his collection bought at estate and garage sales in the USA.  

 

Well, my curiosity about this man led to an arranged meeting over coffee; it turned out he’s a retired doctor of medicine, urologist, who had emigrated to the US and practiced medicine for many years in the state of Delaware.  Upon retirement he and his wife decided to return to the home country, leaving American-citizen-children behind.  An interesting man who’s so widely read he has become somewhat of a walking encyclopedia, he offered to give me all the books still in his possession that is about Israel and Jews.  In fact, he brought me yet another coffee table book, brand new, titled Yiddish Wisdom, with Chagall-like illustrations by Kristina Swarmer.  It is from this book that I’ve selected the entries featured below.  Enjoy, and thanks to “Dr. T” for this and other books to come which we will continue to feature here. Some of these sayings you will find familiar, you just didn’t know they’re Yiddish-sourced.]

  • “From your mouth into God’s ears!”
  • “One always thinks that others are happy.”
  • “No answer is also an answer.”
  • “The face tells the secret.”
  • “The tongue is the pen of the heart.”
  • “Jack of all trades, master of none.”
  • “You can’t ride in all directions at one time.”
  • “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”
  • ‘If you’re going to do something wrong, enjoy it.”
  • “God takes with one hand and gives with the other.”
  • “A frequent guest becomes a pest.”
  • “A meowing cat can’t catch mice.”
  • “If you can’t do as you wish, do as you can.”
  • ‘A half truth is a whole lie.”
  • “A liar must have a good memory.”
  • “If you have money, you are wise and good-looking and can sing too.”
  • “The food is cooked in a pot and the plate gets the honor.”
  • “Money buys everything except brains.”
  • “In a quarrel, each side is right.”
  • “The pen stings worse than the arrow.”
  • “Time brings wounds and heals them.”
  • ‘Hope for miracles that don’t rely on one.”
  • “Ask advice from everyone but act with your own mind.”
  • “The husband is the boss—if his wife allows.”
  • “With honey you can catch more flies than with vinegar.”
  • “Easy to promise, hard to fulfill.”
  • ‘The gift is not as precious as the thought.”
  • “Loans will get you moans.”
  • “That place seems good where we are not.”
  • “You can’t get ahead with keeping quiet.”
  • “Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”
  • “Too much modesty is half conceit.”
  • “When one must, one can.”
  • “Still waters run deep.”
  • “When your enemy falls don’t rejoice, but don’t pick him up either.”
  • “The reddest apple has a worm in it.”
  • “When the stomach is empty, so is the brain.”
  • “An imaginary illness is worse than a real one.”
  • “Sometimes the remedy is worse than the disease.”