Page 37 - December 2021

When ththey call, you still show up
Officer Joe Jackson reminds members that during the tri- als and tribulations, there’s always a way to make light of the situation and move forward.
Before we were here, there were our parents, our grand- parents and their parents. And you wonder, how did they make it? I mean, they had all these different challenges for people of their time.
Somebody must have had some faith, or trust, in some- thing other than their circumstances to push forward. In any Bible stories, in the midst of that, God brought those peo- ple through.
You can go back in history and see people who were challenged, just like we are today. We are living here today to tell their stories. There are encouraging moments that we could give a testimony of how their strength and cour- age brought them through the challenges.
We’ve overcome wars. My father and uncle were in World
Chaplain Joe Jackson
War II. They passed, but they lived to tell their stories. Can you imagine coming from World War II to seeing the millennium?
It’s going to take people locking arms and knowing that together, we can get through these times. People think they can do it on their own, but you must realize that you need help.
I believe we’ve been called here by God. We didn’t pick this. It picked us, because who would pick a job like this to do? And now, under these circumstances, who would do it? You don’t do this because of a paycheck.
It’s got to be something inside that causes you to take this job where people have been so scrutinized. And when they call, you still show up.
So I’m encouraging people to continue to move forward. It might be a slower day, but just know that this is today. Tomorrow will be different. And if you get enough tomor- rows, then the pain of the challenge that arrived on your doorstep won’t be as great.
We are shown more ththan we can understand
Rabbi Wolf reassures members that holding on to faith will help them endure any adversity in the face of the unknown.
We are going through unprecedented times while run- ning the marathon of life. There’s only one place that you can keep focused, and that is straight ahead.
There are times in life where the only thing that keeps us going is faith, a strong and unshakable belief in something without any proof. So whatever you believe in, hold on to it.
A member of my congregation is a survivor of World War II. He lost everything in the war, from his family and siblings to the family business.
I asked him, “What made you not go over to the electric fence and just touch it? All your problems would be over.”
It’s a question that I continually ask him because I’m try- ing to register it in my brain.
His response was, “I knew G-d had a plan for me. And I
Rabbi Moshe Wolf
was just curious what that plan was.”
Sometimes, there are no answers. We are
shown more than we can understand. And we have
to make peace with that. Sometimes, G-d and life are un- der no obligation to make sense to us.
In times as such, it’s very difficult if somebody doesn’t have faith or religion in their life. When you’re going into the ocean, they tell you to take a life jacket. There are some who say no, but faith and religion are a life jacket in tough times.
Can you swim without a life jacket? Sure. But when you have the life jacket, you know that if an unexpected wind comes, one that would turn you over, you have a life jacket to hold on to.
We ask the good Lord for his help, and we ask the good Lord to hold onto us. And G-d says, “I can only hold on to you with as much strength as you hold on to me.”
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