Startling Revelations

Tomorrow, school really starts for a bunch of people. In some countries, they are humane and start on Wednesday 7 Jan; in some they start on 12 Jan; in at least one case I know a bunch who don't start school till 2 Feb. Some people start school on 2 Jan or earlier, perhaps in the last week of December.

But whatever it is, it is always a time for reflection and meditation, and for those of us so inclined, thanksgiving and prayer. Always.

I was speaking to Adobe about this not long ago, and he exclaimed, "I have been praying for the wrong things!"

I asked him why. He replied, "I should be praying for the best to happen, not for the bad to be removed! And if the bad has to be removed for the best to happen, so be it."

Which put me in mind of that old Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof, in which a young man asks the village rabbi, "Is there a proper blessing for the Czar of Russia?"

Surprisingly, there was. You can read the whole story here. Essentially, prayer changes the person praying for the better. It's an interesting and very Jewish answer.