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Am I an Idolator?

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muman613:
This morning while driving into my workplace I had time to think about the events of the last week. As many here know I was involved in a very bad auto accident last Friday. I could have been killed because I was side-swiped by a Mustang, crashed into a cement barrier, was sent spinning out of control, was rammed by an 18-wheel truck, and ended up spinning onto the right shoulder coming to rest 10 feet away from a road work crew.

As a Jew I am always trying to determine 'why' things happen in my life. Jews dont believe in coincidence or luck, we believe in providence from the L-rd G-d himself. We must ask ourselves why do bad things happen to us. So I got to thinking why this happened to me...

The first thought which came to mind is the fact that I have not replaced the Mezzuzah on my front door since it fell off last summer. I have gotten a new Mezzuzah case but it was not the correct size for the mezzuzah scroll which I currently have for it... So the scroll and the new mezzuzah case are sitting on my bimah waiting for me to put it back up. I always worry about this because I believe that a mezzuzah does have a power to prevent bad from happening to the occupants of the house. I don't think of it as an amulet, but I do think that a house without a mezzuzah is looking for problems...

But this morning I had an even more profound insight... One that leads me to fear for my eternal soul...

I am a Mustang lover... I love the Ford Mustang and have loved them since I was a five year old child. All my adult years I yearned to own a Mustang and then in 2003 I finally got my first mustang.... In 2005 I upgraded to the GT 8-cylinder model Mustang and I was looking forward to eventually getting the Mustang Cobra {with the 500HP engine}. I have even gotten into the habit of collecting Mustang models and remote control cars... At my office desk I have 3 Mustang miniatures and I enjoy to look at them...

What struck me as prophetic this morning is the fact that the car which side-swiped me happened to be a Mustang... I began to think that maybe I have built myself an idol and this is what Hashem did to me to remind me not to put so much value in a physical item such as a car. Maybe because of my ascribing power to a car I am being reminded that Hashem is the source of my power and not the car which I drive...

Also last night when I was driving home in my rental car I came to stop at the toll-booth and the toll-collector woman recognized me... She asked me if I had a new car... I asked her if she remembers me and she said "You are the one who drives a Green Mustang GT" and I smiled at her and told her that I was just in an accident... I was shocked that a toll-collector, who must accept tolls from 1000s of drivers a day, was able to recognize me... I do admit that I am a unique looking individual {how many people have long side-curl peyos in the San Francisco bay area?}.

It is not easy to break away from the slave mentality of Mitzrayim {Egypt}... I just listened to Rabbi Schafiers recent lecture posted on A7 news where he talks about this issue of how the Jews in Egypt had a slave mentality which was difficult to break. I really love that car and hope that I can get another mustang {or this one repaired}..... But I am open to the possibility I may not be able to have my wish...

Either way I must be able to put down the idols and worship Hashem without any Desires or Lusts...

muman613

~Hanna~:
Oh, I am glad you are alright.... :dance:

This is something to seriously ponder about.

Thankyou for sharing this.

The Christians aren't supposed to be having idols, either.

muman613:

pennyjangle:
God wants to give us our hearts desires but we must put him first in our life's. He prunes us (like a tree) in ways we do not always like or understand but know that it is for our good to become the person He wants us to be. God loves us.

muman613:

--- Quote from: pennyjangle on November 10, 2009, 08:19:14 PM ---G-d wants to give us our hearts desires but we must put him first in our life's. He prunes us (like a tree) in ways we do not always like or understand but know that it is for our good to become the person He wants us to be. G-d loves us.

--- End quote ---

I understand this... I am attempting to understand how this bad event is intended for good. A Jew has much more responsibility than the non-Jew because more is expected from us. While you don't have any commandments we have so many it sometimes seems daunting. I know that Hashem loves me, I see his good work every day. I say several blessings each morning, blessings on the beauty of the landscape on my way to work {it is such a beautiful drive}... We are exhorted to say 100 blessings a day.... I hope that some day I will be able to fufill this goal of 100 blessings a day.

Thank you for your wisdom...

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