Kendall,



Some time ago, (years, I think) my Mental Health Counselor recommended that
book and I read it.














On 7/23/07, Kendall D. Corbett <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Meir,
>
> Another good take on this is "When Bad Things Happen to Good People,"
> by Harold Kushner.  Our priest recommended that my mom read it after
> my stroke.  (I was raised as an Episcopalian, although I now consider
> myself to be agnostic, although not militantly so.  A friend has a
> bumper sticker that says
>
> "God?  I Don't Know, and You Don't Either!"
>
> Which I think goes too far.
>
>
> On 7/22/07, Meir Weiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=541123
> >
> >
> > Printed from Chabad.org
> >
> > Are we to blame for our son's brain dysfunction?
> >
> > Question:
> >
> >                My son was diagnosed with a form of brain dysfunction.
> Please let me know if his parents or grandparents did something to deserve
> this punishment. Should we blame ourselves for his illness? Also, how can we
> help him?
> >
> > Answer:
> >
> > I am sorry about your son's diagnosis. It can be a difficult time for
> parents to reach an acceptance of why things happened this way. Often, they
> will incorrectly blame themselves or fault themselves for a child's
> sickness.
> >
> > We do not know why G‑d runs His world as He does. We do not understand
> why there is suffering, sickness, poverty, hunger or the many seemingly
> unfair challenges and tribulations in our world.
> >
> > We are told that sometimes very great souls need to descend to this
> world. These souls are so lofty that the physical realm cannot contain them,
> so they come into a body that "shatters" from its impact. Your son's brain
> might be somewhat dysfunctional because of the great holy soul that is
> enclothed within it. Many parents of special needs children vouch for this,
> explaining how despite the child's many needs, these children have a certain
> purity to them, or a certain power to them, in helping others to accept them
> because of who they are, not what they can give to this world, or to their
> families. Such children teach us the power of real love--a love that is not
> based on any preconditions.
> >
> > As far as your question if you did anything to "deserve" this: Special
> children are most often given to very special families, who can see beyond
> their external dysfunction to the beauty of their soul. No, I do not think
> you should blame yourself for your son's sickness.
> >
> > As far as what you can do to help him--as with any area of our physical
> world, its source is in the spiritual worlds. You can obviously help this
> child by doing mitzvot in his merit. You can choose any mitzvah that you
> like--extra charity, extra prayers, helping someone in need, mezuzah,
> kashrut, etc.--and keep it in his merit. You will thus be strengthening him
> spiritually and hopefully physically too.
> >
> > While G‑d listens to all prayers, the supplications of a tzaddik, a
> righteous individual, are especially potent. I would advise you to write a
> note to be placed on the Rebbe's gravesite, asking him to pray on your
> child's behalf. Click here <http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=36248>  to
> find instructions on how to do so.
> >
> > Wishing you success and blessings,
> >
> > Chana Weisberg for Chabad.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> worldwide on issues relating to women, faith, relationships and the Jewish
> soul.
> >
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>
> --
>
>
> Kendall
>
> An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)
>
> The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
> persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
> progress depends on the unreasonable man.
>
> -George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
>