Interwoven Faith Experiences

 

 

 Opening A Pandora's Box?

During my lifetime two subjects were strictly taboo at cocktail parties; religion and politics. But beyond the cocktail parties, as reformed Jews, we shied away from public forum discussions of religion in education. 

However, we were a question posing family and I became aware that Catholic parents were paying double taxes for the public schools as well as the Catholic schools their child attended. A trial case in Chicago was initiated by a Catholic high school, a few blocks away from a public high school, as to the possible attendance of parochial high school students to be bussed to certain classes in the public school. The "Shared Time Experience" was challenged in the courts (enclosed see some of the documentation).

I liked the idea of the Shared Time and was inspired, no doubt by the Holy Spirit (although I was a Jew at the time), to invite a Catholic priest, a Protestant minister and an Orthodox Rabbi to dialogue in a public forum regarding the pros and cons of such a program in our democracy.

I am embarrassed to say that I wasn't positive our senior Rabbi would approve of such a meeting.

We met in his office at 8AM. His face began to redden as I began my story with escalating enthusiasm. He was stonily silent. After a short while he squeezed his hands and declared, "Ruth, don't do it! You will be opening a Pandora's box of antisemitism. My voice was trembling as I countered this highly respected Rabbi but nevertheless responded, "Rabbi, I am sorry but I do not agree with you, I have spoken to Hans Adler of the anti-defamation league (an organization that promotes greater peace and understanding among faith, cultural, and racial groups) he agrees that this program will lead to greater understanding among faith and cultural groups in our North Shore communities. 

He responded with, "I won't be at that meeting." 
"I am very sorry Rabbi, but we are going to go ahead with the meeting." Two days later I called that Rabbi and said, "If you choose not to attend would you please recommend another Rabbi and we will accept whomever you choose. It will be set for November 18, 1964." 

Although the program was intended to explore the possibilities of the Shared Time Experiment, Msgr. William Mcmamas (head of theArchdiocese of the Catholic school system in Chicago) recommended that we change the title from "The Shared Time Experiment" to "Religion in Education," broadening the discussion. I shall never forget his statement that "Our goal is to educate the whole person."

Rabbi Irving Rossenbaum (from the Loop Synagogue in Chicago) was the third panelist. 

Dr. Edgar Chandler, director of the church federation, was very agreeable to the broadening of the discussion. 

It was an unforgettable, glorious, evening, held in a neutral setting- Newtrear High School. We had a delicious dinner for the panelists and a Kosher dinner for Rabbi Rossenbaum and his wife. We finalized the date with Norman Ross Jr., a respected TV moderator. The attendance on that stormy winter night was about 700 people, including 40 Catholic nuns who were cloistered. After a most successful, enlightening discussion, we distributed assessment queries to the audience. Their positive response gave rise to the formation of our North Shore Interfaith Lay Committee composed of representatives of a wide variety from churches and synagogues.

 We met, dialogued, socialized and dreamed together of bringing greater understanding among differing faith groups and reflected deeply on the teachings of Leviticus 19:18 "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (NIV) and Jesus' teachings from Matthew 22: 37-39 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself " (NIV).

P.S And thanks be to God our senior Rabbi did appear at the meeting. And to our knowledge the Pandora's box lid was not opened.
 

A Saintly French Priest Was Honored By The State of Israel

Father Raymond Vancourt was the leader of the French underground during the Nazi occupation. He and his niece Helle Raymonde Lombart;for two years they saved my friend Irene Poll, a German-Jew and members of her family. Father's saintly humility is very apparent when we read his humble acceptance of the state of Israel's righteous award.

Dialogic Fruit For Thought

Reflections at sunrise-

When the Light shines through the prism of our minds and hearts, a rainbow of wonder appears------
Possibilities, here to for, revealed by doubt; become mustard seeds of hope...
Radiating the miracle of faith. Amen. RWG

 

 "There's A Holy In There!"

Years before my conversion to Catholicism, I wondered how children of differing faiths viewed nuns. I was given permission to visit Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish children at church and temple in their religious classes.

Sarah, a Jewish girl said, "Nuns are sisters to everyone."
Joseph, a Catholic bog, referring to the convent, said, "There's a Holy in there!"
Beth, a Protestant girl, shook her head, yes; and agreed with the other two.

I had not thought of those children's assessments for years. Recently, I viewwed an exquisite TV Mass on the Feast of the  Immaculate Conception at the National Basilica in Washington, D.C. Suddenly, a mental replay of the children's responses came to my mind, as a gift from the Holy Spirit.

On this of all days, the celebration of our beloved Mary's Immaculate Conception (the Holy Spirit) prompted me to see Mary's procreative womb in a holy light. Her womb as a cradle of co-creation with God (the Holy Spirit) as the cradle of Jesus/God/Man. A mysterious miracle! Currenty I believe that all mother's pregnant wombs as cradles of co-creation.

So yes, Joseph, in the convent and in the womb, there is a holy in there! When you get older, you can learn more about what I call a sacred recycle. Science has explained miraculous parts of the pregnancy miracle...the umbilical cord blood...stem cells. These can be used to treat certain diseases at Children's memorial Hospital in Chicago and other research labs here and abroad.

 

Gratitude To God For Our Lives

 

 

 

Accompanying family pictures- Please see "A MIRACLE AT MY BREAST" re the Bicornuate Uterus, and the hospital nurse-interfaith angels who appeared unexpectedly.

Beloved Beth at 65 & grateful me at 90.

Les with his sons Steven & Robby- now in their 20's

 

Beth & her baby Carrie Sue

Ruth, Carrie, and Beth covered with the now 66 year old afghan that my mother crocheted while I was on bed rest.

Carrie, Beth, and Ruth with great grandchild Maddie Hope.

A Miracle At My Breast

He was an esteemed gynecologist in Chicago. At 22 I was naive. After his physical examination, he announce, "I don't need to take an x-ray, I'll stake my reputation on it. You have a tumor on your uterus." He immediately prepared for an exploratory operation. Shocked, I agreed.

After the operation, I was hospitalized for a week. My painful incision was huge. I wondered why doctor R had not come to see me. I later learned that after the surgery, he had left for a vacation! His associate doctor L was left with telling me and my husband, Willard, the "good news." I didn't have a tumor, I had a bicornuate uterus. I asked, "What's that?  His answer? I had a divided uterus.

The following year, during World War ll, my husband was drafted into the army. After some months of his basic training, I was able to join him in Montgomery, Alabama. While traveling with my husband, my monthly "period" had become irregular. Army doctors were rarely available to civilians. Finally, I was able to be seen by an excellent gynecologist. Following his examination the doctor said, "I'm sorry to tell you that you will never be able to carry a baby to full term. Because of the congenital abnormality of your uterus you will have repeated miscarriages."

But, the Lord has other plans!

Unfortunately that doctors prophecy, regarding several miscarriages, came true. I shall never forget one, three-month-miscarried pregnancy. After a hospital procedure, the nurse told me I had given birth to a boy. In my heart I named that baby David.

In time, I wanted to adopt, but my husband was hesitant. Then, two months later, surprise! I was pregnant again. Who could help me? Was it not the Holy Spirit that led me to a remarkable doctor who with a smile said, "We can do it! You will stay in bed for seven months, and I will prescribe a steroid hormone, synthetic progesterone injections and you will have a full-term baby!"(I later learned that an African American chemist had developed the synthetic form of progesterone and I wrote a letter of gratitude to him.)

Subsequently, my mother came to be with me every day while my husband worked. She crocheted a beautiful smooth, wool, afghan during those seven months. Today, at ninety, I still use it as a coverlet on my bed.

After my enforced bed rest, when my water broke, my husband rushed me to the hospital. My doctor and a group of fascinated interns were waiting for me. This was their first bicornuate uterus- full-term baby.

After the birth of our beautiful, six pound-seven ounce baby Beth, the nurse placed her at my breast, I was experiencing a miracle. Totally awed at the realization that another human being had emerged from my body. Without question, I, like mothers all over the world, had become a co-creator with God.

But, the next day I struggled with infection and a high temperature. Hospital regulations required that I be moved from the maternity floor to another location. Upon hearing that, I experienced severe dizziness. I did not want to be separated from my baby.

Then suddenly, like angels, two nurses appeared at the foot of my bed. With a loving smile, one nurse said, "I am Catholic." The second nurse said, "I am Protestant- we heard that you are Jewish, and we thought that if we prayed together for you, your temperature would break." Thus, with prayer, and a large dose of aspirin, my temperature broke and I was allowed to stay on the maternity floor.

 Following Beth's birth her dad was standing outside of the glass window nursery window, looking for Beth in the bassinet.  Suddenly he saw her dimples and called out "That's her, she's mine!"

 A month later I was reading Psalm 147 and was magnetized by the phrase "I will bless the children within you." It didn't say child, ie Beth already born, but it read "children." Little did I know that we were to be blessed with another child despite many challenges to be overcome. I remember Willard and I sitting in the doctor's waiting room, anxious to know the test results of the "rabbit test" (A urine pregnancy test at that time). When the doctor announced that I was pregnant again both Willard and I wept. We had just lived through a serious fire in our new home. Beth suffered from gluten intolerance (celiac disease), requiring constant attention. Thus, I was on my feet night and day. Again miracle of miracles, during Beth's delivery, the surgeon removed a dividing septum in my uterus, which allowed for Les' expanding weight, without causing a miscarriage. Neither Willard or I ever considered an abortion. Les became another love of our lives; laughing, he was a pure delight.

During my lifetime, I was privileged to do volunteer teaching among the poor. I had been a pro-choice advocate for several years. My heart went out to women who had been used and to those that felt they could not take care of another child. But since my adult conversion to Catholicism, I came to the realization that abortion is the killing of an innocent life.

I believe that all life is a divine gift. As a peace activist during the Vietnam War I thought of killing, whether during war or abortion, an abomination. There are however, circumstances that require serious consideration, regarding the concept that it takes a village to raise a child. Therefore, I also believe, that if we are truly pro-life advocates, we must advocate for the well-being of all children. For each of them are in fact a miracle.

For the sake of readers interested in the research and treatment of a bicornuate uterus
I found Wikipedia's information regarding the Pathophysiology, Classification, Epidemiology, and Effect on Reproduction, to be amazing. I was particularly fascinated with this Epidemiology statistic:

              "A bicornuate uterus is estimated in 0.1%-0.5% of women in the U.S." 

Effect on Reproduction: 

• Pregnancies in a bicornuate uterus are usually considered high-risk and require extra monitoring because of association with poor reproduction potential.

• A bicornuate uterus is associated with increased adverse reproductive outcomes like recurrent pregnancy loss, preterm birth, and/or breech birth. 

***Previously,  a bicornuate uterus was thought to be associated with infertility, but recent studies have not confirmed such an association.***

As to diagnosis- we now have gynecologic sonography, but probably not during my 1946 pregnancy. 

I highly recommend interested readers to check out Wikipedia for more information on a Bicornuate Uterus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicornuate_uterus

 

A Bicornuate Uterus is commonly referred to as a divided-heart shaped womb.

 

If I Run From You- Will You Lord

 

Good Dialogue Is....You Choose

 

Dialogue is the sign language
of the heart




Dialogue is a home
where hope lives


Good dialogue is
gentleness made audible


Dialogue teaches
that all human tears
are without color


Dialogue is the hub
of human experience
not the brake


Dialogue is not "us and them;"
it is WE.


Good dialogue echoes like the music of peace


Good dialogue
radiates from
the affirming heart


Dialogue is not having to win
nor choosing to lose


Good dialogue is
the ocean and the mountain-
the music of our
mental landscape


Dialogue is a journey
not a conclusion


Dialogue is a gift from God--
pass it forward


Dialogue with the Divine
is the fruit of silence


Dialogue is an RX
for sick hearts


Dialogue is not black and white
red or grey;
It is the sun rising on a new day


Dialogue is like love-
the more the better


Good dialogue can transform
 strangers into friends


Dialogue is grandparents telling
"when I was young" stories
and grandchildren turning off TV
to listen


Dialogue is the search that
transcends self
the hope that heals divisiveness


Prayerful dialogue
is the still small voice (Elijah)
that whispers "peace"
in the midst of conflict