(The) Wisdom of Tradition(s)

2008-05-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

Guardian Angel Prayers

"Night with Her Train of Stars"
by Edward Robert Hughes Version 1
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
to whom God's love commits me here.
Watch over me throughout the night,
keep me safe within your sight.
***
Version 2
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
to whom God's love entrusts me here.
Ever this day be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide.

Source: Traditional Catholic Prayers

HOSPICE ARTICLE

2007-10-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

The Wisdom of Traditions

Each one of us throughout our lives has experienced different traditions that we can turn to for strength and wisdom. As a Hospice Chaplain, I have had the privilege of helping patients and their families turn to these traditions when they are helpful.

Sometimes it is praying together the Lord’s Prayer in the tradition that they are most comfortable with. Lutheran’s often pray “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…” and end the prayer “and the glory forever and ever.” Presbyterians pray “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…, and end with “and the glory forever.” Methodists have a combination of the two prayers: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and end “and the glory forever.” When we hook into little differences, we are also connecting with traditions that people have been a part of throughout their lives. Using images of sacred places and religious paintings is also a way that people connect with their traditions in order to find comfort and wisdom.

In addition to finding out about their spiritual background, as I visit with patients and their families, I also find it helpful to know about their ethnic background. One patient, shortly before her death, translated into English, Psalm 23, which I had given her in Norwegian. She translated the last verse: “Only goodness and mercy shall come after me all my life’s days and I shall live in God’s house throughout a long life”. This was read at her funeral by her pastor, who commented on her long life, and how she continued to learn even in her last days. I have translations of Psalm 23 in the many languages that are found in our community, in hopes that others will be able to connect with traditions from their pasts.

Some have memorized Hymns or scripture such as the King James Version of Psalm 23. Even those who have difficulty communicating sometimes are able to the words: “Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”, as a chaplain or family member reads to them these familiar words. I read to one patient Psalm 23 from a new version of the bible, “The Message”, written by Eugene Peterson: “Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.” When I had finished she said that she wanted this read at her funeral. I assumed that she wanted the traditional Psalm 23 read, but she corrected me and said that she wanted this new version read. She said that this version reminded her of her life and how she was brought up. Sometimes we need traditions to remain exactly the same, while other times new or slightly changed traditions speak to our hearts and our experiences.

At another funeral, the patient’s son was Buddhist, and appreciated a Japanese version of Psalm 23: “Surely harmony shall be the fruit of my hours, and I shall walk in the pace of the Lord and dwell in His house forever.” Many times, prayers, hymns and scriptures read at the funeral of one family member, becomes a tradition that imparts wisdom and comfort to future generations and sometimes is used over and over again at funerals. A good example of this is the Ojibwa Prayer that ends: “Make me ever ready to come before you with clean hands and a straight eye, so as life fades away as a fading sunset; my spirit can come to you with no shame.” This is a Native American prayer that has become a part of many funerals and its wisdom is past on from generation to generation. Another prayer from the Jewish tradition, “Gates of Prayer”, has been adopted by many Christians for the funerals of their family members, and helps family and friends to remember occasions and traditions that they participated in with their loved ones, and helps to perpetuate these traditions and memories into the future. This prayer begins “At the rising of the sun and its going down, you will remember him” and ends “As long as you live, he too will live; for he is now a part of you and you will remember him.”

All of us can help others access the wisdom of their own traditions or provide new or slightly altered tradition. For further information on the “Wisdom of Traditions”, please go to http://wisdomoftraditions.blogspot.com/, and if you have traditions that have been helpful please e-mail me at Tholtey@hrrv.org.

Tom Holtey, Home and Hospital team Chaplain in Fargo.

2007-09-18T06:24:00.001-07:00

Amish Grace and the Rest of Us
The Amish response to the Nickel Mines shootings wasn't just plain Christianity.
Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher | posted 9/17/2007 09:59AM

The Amish Are Not Us

If there's one thing we learned from the Nickel Mines story, it's this: the Amish commitment to forgive is not a small patch tacked onto their fabric of faithfulness. Rather, their commitment to forgive is intricately woven into their lives and their communities-so intricately that it's hard to talk about Amish forgiveness without talking about dozens of other things.

Related articles and links

When we first broached the subject of forgiveness with Amish people, we were struck by their reluctance to speak of forgiveness in abstract ways. We did hear forgiveness defined as "letting go of grudges." More frequently, however, we heard responses and stories with forgiveness interspersed with other terms such as love, humility, compassion, submission, and acceptance. The web of words that emerged in these conversations pointed to the holistic, integrated nature of Amish life. Unlike many of their consumer-oriented neighbors, the Amish do not assemble their spirituality piecemeal by personal preference. Rather, Amish spirituality is woven together by a community of saints that stretches back for centuries.

To hear the Amish explain it, the New Testament provides the pattern for their unique form of spirituality. In a certain sense they are right. The Amish take the words of Jesus with utmost seriousness, and members frequently explain their faith by quoting Jesus or other New Testament texts. But the Amish way of life cannot be reduced simply to taking the Bible—or even Jesus—seriously. Rather, Amish spirituality emerges from their particular way of understanding the biblical text, a lens that's been shaped by their pacifistic martyr tradition. With the martyrs hovering nearby, offering admonition and encouragement, the Amish have esteemed suffering over vengeance, Uffgevva over striving, and forgiveness over resentment. All Christians can read Jesus' words in Matthew's Gospel—"forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors"—but Amish people truly believe that their own forgiveness is bound up in their willingness to forgive others. For them, forgiveness is more than a good thing to do. It is the thing to do.

All of this helps us understand how the Nickel Mines Amish could do the unimaginable: extend forgiveness to their children's killer within hours of their deaths. The decision to forgive came quickly, almost instinctively. Moreover, it came in deeds as well words, with concrete expressions of care for the gunman's family. For the Amish, the test of faith is action. Beliefs are important, and words are too, but actions reveal the true character of one's faith. Therefore to really forgive means to act in forgiving ways-in this case, expressing care for the family of the killer.

In a world where the default response is more often revenge than forgiveness, all of this is inspiring. At the same time, the fact that forgiveness is so deeply woven into the fabric of Amish life should alert us that their example, inspiring as it is, is not easily transferable to other people in other situations. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but how does one imitate a habit that's embedded in a way of life anchored in a 400-year history?

Most North Americans, formed by the assumptions of liberal democracy and consumer capitalism, carry a dramatically different set of cultural habits. In fact, many North Americans might conclude that certain Amish habits are problematic, if not utterly offensive. Submitting to the discipline of fallible church leaders? Forgoing personal acclaim? Constraining intellectual exploration? Abiding by restrictive gender roles? Declining to stand up for one's rights? Refusing to fight for one's country? Could any set of cultural habits be more out of sync with mainstream American culture?

Many observers missed the countercultural dimension of Amish forgiveness, or at least downplayed it, in the aftermath of the Nickel Mines shooting. Outsiders, typically impressed by what they saw, too often assumed that Amish grace represented the best in "us." Few commentators did this as crassly as the writer who equated the faith of the Amish with the faith of the Founding Fathers. In his mind, the Nickel Mines Amish were not acting counterculturally; they were simply extending a long American tradition of acting in loving, generous, and "Christian" ways. Other commentators, eager to find redemptive lessons in such a senseless event, offered simple platitudes. Rather than highlighting the painful self-renunciation that forgiveness (and much of Amish life) entails, they extolled Amish forgiveness as an inspiring expression of the goodness that resides in America's heartland.

We are not suggesting that the Amish response to the shooting was not praiseworthy. We contend, however, that the countercultural value system from which it emerged was too often neglected in the tributes that followed in the wake of the shooting. As if to drive home the depth of this cultural divide, ministers in one Ohio Amish community soon forbade a member from giving public lectures on Amish forgiveness. Ironically, the very value system that compelled the Nickel Mines Amish to forgive Charles Roberts constrained a member's freedom to talk about forgiveness with curious outsiders. No, the Amish response at Nickel Mines was not so much the "best of America" as it was an expression of love by a people who every day challenge many of the values the rest of us hold dear.

The Perils Of Strip Mining

If some observers detached Amish forgiveness from its countercultural weave, others severed it from its social context—drawing dubious lessons the Amish could teach the world. For instance, numerous writers cited the Amish example at Nickel Mines to score points against the violence so prominent in U.S. foreign policy, particularly the Bush administration's war on terror. Many of these critiques contrasted the Christianity of President Bush with the faith of the Amish, and then asked readers which one Jesus himself would endorse. From a rhetorical standpoint, the contrast worked well, though its proponents failed to mention that the two-kingdom Amish would never expect the government to operate without the use of force. Even as the Amish use their own disciplinary procedures to prune unrighteousness within their churches, they expect the government to restrain evildoers in the world, often by force. For that reason, it's unlikely the Amish would encourage a U.S. president to pardon someone like Osama bin Laden.

Of course, it's possible that these commentators were not talking about pardoning terrorists (releasing them from punishment), but rather about forgiving them (replacing rage with love). Still, in their quick application of Amish forgiveness to complex, entrenched conflicts, many pundits neglected a key point: the schoolhouse shooter was dead and his offenses were in the past. As horrible as the shooting was, it was a single event that dawned unexpectedly and ended quickly. Contrast this, for instance, with the centuries-long history of oppression of African Americans, the calculated extermination of six million Jews, or the fear that families living amid ethnic conflict experience every day. Offering forgiveness is much more complicated, and much more challenging, when the offenses occur repeatedly. Even minor offenses—demeaning comments from a supervisor, for instance—can obstruct forgiveness when they continue day after day.

Other factors made this forgiveness story distinct, even within Amish life. The Nickel Mines Amish had neighborly ties with the gunman's family, relationships they hoped to mend and keep in this small town environment. Additionally, the scale of the offense meant that no one person or family had to bear the burden of forgiveness alone. The wider Amish community, in a spirit of mutual aid, carried one another along. Moreover, the enormity of the evil made the Amish more open to the possibility that the shooting might have a place in God's providential plan. Together these factors help to explain why some Amish people suggested that forgiving Charles Roberts was easier than forgiving a fellow church member for a petty, run-of-the-mill offense.

Again, we are not minimizing Amish generosity in the face of this horrific shooting. We are suggesting however that the uniqueness of Amish culture—and the details of the tragedy—should chasten us as we apply the Amish example elsewhere. The Amish do not simply tack forgiveness onto their lives in an individualistic fashion, nor do they always forgive as quickly and as easily as media reports seemed to suggest. For these reasons, Amish-style forgiveness can't be strip-mined from southern Lancaster County and transported wholesale to other settings. Rather, the lessons of grace that the rest of us take from Nickel Mines must be extracted with care and applied to other circumstances with humility.

Extracting Lessons from Nickel Mines

Although the Amish approach the task of forgiveness with rich cultural resources, they also approach the task as fallible human beings. In that respect the Amish are like the rest of us, and we are like them. This point should be obvious, but some people assume the Amish have access to otherworldly resources that the rest of us have not found. To be sure, that assumption contains some truth: the God the Amish worship fully expects human beings to love their enemies and forgive their debtors. Nevertheless, the ability to forgive is not restricted to the Amish, or to Christians, or to people who believe in God. To forgive may be divine, as Alexander Pope suggests, but if so, it's a divine act that is broadly available to the human community.

Indeed, in the course of writing this book, we encountered stories of forgiveness that were every bit as moving as the Nickel Mines story: stories of people shot and left for dead, people whose children were abducted and harmed, people whose marriages were shattered by unfaithfulness, people whose reputations were destroyed by so-called friends. Most of these people had no connection to the Amish and few of the cultural resources the Amish bring to bear when they face injustice. And yet they forgave—not quickly or easily, but eventually and for the good of all involved.

Psychologists who study forgiveness find that, generally speaking, people who forgive lead happier and healthier lives than those who don't. The Amish people we interviewed agreed, citing their own experience of forgiving others. Some said they were "controlled" by their offender until they were able to forgive; others said the "acids of hate" destroy the unforgiving person until the hate is released. Coming from members of a religious community that emphasizes self-denial, these comments show that the Amish are nonetheless interested in self-care and personal happiness. Forgiveness may be self-renouncing in some respects, but it is not self-loathing. The Amish we interviewed confirmed what psychologists tell us: forgiveness is a gift to the person who offers it, freeing that person to move on in life with a greater sense of vitality and wholeness.

Still, if the Amish provide evidence that forgiveness heals the forgiver, they provide even more evidence that forgiveness is a gift to the offender. Forgiveness does not deny that a wrong has taken place, but it does give up the right to hurt the wrongdoer in return. Even though Charles Roberts was dead, opportunities to exact vengeance upon his family did not die with his suicide. Rather than pursuing revenge, however, the Amish showed empathy for his kin, even by attending his burial. In other words, the Amish of Nickel Mines chose not to vilify the killer, but to treat him and his family as members of the human community. Amish forgiveness was thus a gift to Charles Roberts, to his family, and even to the world, for it served as the first step toward mending a social fabric that was rent by the schoolhouse shooting.

These acts of grace astounded many people who watched from afar. Living in a world in which religion seems to nourish vengeance more often than curb it, the Amish response was a welcome contrast to a barrage of suicide bombings and religiously fueled rage. What is less clear is whether the rest of us saw the Amish response as something to emulate, or as just a noble but impossible ideal.

Perhaps the answer to that question lies somewhere in the middle. Perhaps we were awed, and truly impressed that the Amish sought to counter evil with a loving and healing response. At the same time, we may know that, had our children been the ones gunned down in the West Nickel Mines School, our response would have been rage rather than grace. It's an honest perspective, but also a problematic one, because it assumes that revenge is the natural response, and forgiveness is reserved for folks like the Amish who spend their lives stifling natural inclinations.

We often assume that humans have innate needs in the face of violence and injustice. For instance, some who said that the Amish forgave Charles Roberts "too quickly," assumed that Amish people had denied a basic human need to get even. But perhaps our real human need is to find ways to move beyond tragedy with a sense of healing and hope. What we learn from the Amish, both at Nickel Mines and more generally, is that how we choose to move on from tragic injustice is culturally formed. For the Amish, who bring their own religious resources to bear on injustice, the preferred way to live on with meaning and hope is to offer forgiveness—and offer it quickly. That offer, including the willingness to forgo vengeance, does not undo the tragedy or pardon the wrong. It does, however, constitute a first step toward a future that is more hopeful, and potentially less violent, than it would otherwise be.

How might the rest of us move in that direction? Most of us have been formed by a culture that nourishes revenge and mocks grace. Hockey fans complain that they haven't gotten their money's worth if the players only skate and score without a fight. Bloody video games are everywhere, and the ones that seemed outrageously violent ten years ago are tame by today's standards. Blockbuster movie plots revolve around heroes who avenge wrong with merciless killing. And it's not just the entertainment world that acculturates us into a graceless existence. Traffic accidents galvanize hoards of lawyers, who encourage victims to get their "due." In fact, getting our due might be the most widely shared value in our hyper-consumerist culture. "The person who volunteers time, who helps a stranger, who agrees to work for a modest wage out of commitment to the public good … begins to feel like a sucker," writes Robert Kuttner in Everything for Sale. In a culture that places such a premium on buying and selling, as opposed to giving and receiving, forgiveness runs against the grain.

Running against that grain, finding alternative ways to imagine our world, ways that in turn will facilitate forgiveness, takes more than individual willpower. We are not only the products of our culture; we are also producers of our culture. We need to construct cultures that value and nurture forgiveness. In their own way, the Amish have constructed such an environment. The challenge for the rest of us is to creatively use our resources to shape cultures that discourage revenge as a first response. How might we work more imaginatively to create communities in which enemies are treated as members of the human family and not demonized? How might these communities foster visions that enable their members to see offenders, as well as victims, as persons with authentic needs? There are no simple answers to these questions, though any answer surely will involve the habits we decide to value, the images we choose to celebrate, and the stories we remember.

In fact, forgiveness is less a matter of "forgive and forget" than forgive and remember—remembering in ways that bring healing, as Miroslav Volf writes in Free of Charge. When we remember, we take the broken pieces of our lives—lives that have been dismembered by tragedy and injustice—and re-member them into something whole. Literally forgetting an egregious offense, personally or publicly, may not be possible, but all of us can and do make decisions about how we remember what we cannot forget.

For the Amish, gracious remembering involves habits nurtured by memories of Jesus forgiving his tormentors while hanging on a cross and of Dirk Willems returning to pull his enemy out of the icy water. When thirteen-year-old Marian said "shoot me first" in the schoolhouse, and when adults in her community walked over to the killer's family with words of grace a few hours after her death, they were acting on those habits. And just as surely, their actions at Nickel Mines will be recounted around Amish dinner tables for generations to come, creating and renewing memories about the power of faith to respond in the face of injustice—even violence—with grace.

In a world where faith often justifies and magnifies revenge, and in a nation where some Christians use scripture to fuel retaliation, the Amish response was indeed a surprise. Regardless of the details of the Nickel Mines story, one message rings clear: religion was not used to justify rage and revenge but to inspire goodness, forgiveness, and grace. And that is the big lesson for the rest of us regardless of our faith or nationality.

Excerpted from Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, David L. Weaver-Zercher (September 27, 2007, $24.95 cloth) by permission of Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy is available from ChristianBook.com and other retailers.

News from Nickel Mines about the community a year after the shootings includes:

Exclusive: interview with slain Amish girls' families | In the year since the Amish school shootings, the girls' families have struggled with grief, anger and fear to reach 'a new normal.' Here, they describe that challenging journey. (Lancaster New Era)
Amish share massacre survivors' stories | One shooting survivor depends entirely on her family for care and is fed through a tube. Another just endured surgery to repair a damaged shoulder and arm. A third suffers lasting vision problems. (Associated Press)
Amish stoically endure scars of massacre| No events will mark the anniversary. "Each day," said a report, "brings … pain, grief and questions." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Philip Yancey and Stan Guthrie wrote about the tragedy.

Other articles about the Amish are available in our special section

QUESTIONS?

2007-05-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

Name someone you would consider a hero. Why?

Name someone who influenced you in choosing your work..

Tell about a time when a child inspired you.

What is your favorite time of year?

Tell about a story on New Years Eve.

Did you fulfill most of your New Years Eve resolutions?

How have you been a hero to another person?

Who has helped you develop a concern for those in need?

Tell about your favorite vacation.

Tell about a special birthday you had.

Describe one of your favorite family celebrations.

What was a happy time in your life?

Describe a place you lived in while growing up.

Who do you think prays for you?

Who have you prayed for the most? Why?

When do you usually pray?

Tell about a dream that you remember.

Where is a scenic place that inspires you?

Tell about something that you do to relax.

Tell about a move to another place that you made.

What is your all-time favorite movies? Why?

Tell about a movie that brought tears to your eyes.

What is your scariest thought or dream?

What keeps you up at night?

Would you call the family you grew up in “religious”?

Describe a way that your parents influenced your beliefs.

How has your faith changed since you were a child?

Recite a childhood prayer.

Tell about one of your best friends.

What is a belief that you have struggled with?

Describe a crisis that brought you closer to God.

When you are sad is it helpful for you to go to worship?

Tell about a book that had an impact on your faith.

What song influenced your life the most?

Name a foreign country you visited or would have like to.

Tell about a day when you went fishing or swimming.

Tell about something you did that was “out of character”.

Tell about a time when you did something “wrong”.

Tell about something that still bothers you.

What does the phrase, “Love your neighbor” mean?

Describe something your mother considered important.

Tell about a story about one of your grandfathers.

Tell about a story about on of your grandmothers.

What is a favorite saying of one of your parents?

Tell a story about a certain Christmas.

What is an experience you would consider a miracle?

Tell about a time when you felt forgiven.

What does “Let go and Let God” mean to you?

What do you think the world will be like in 100 years?

What is an item you would put in a time capsule?

What is something you would like to pass on?

What is the age you consider to be the “prime of life”?

What goes through your mind when you see a newborn?

Why do some people suffer more than others?

Where would you say that evil comes from?

Tell about an act of injustice that troubles you.

What do you think the world will be like in 100 years?

What is an item you would put in a time capsule?

What is something you would like to pass on?

What is the age you consider to be the “prime of life”?

What goes through your mind when you see a newborn?

Why do some people suffer more than others?

Where would you say that evil comes from?

Tell about an act of injustice that troubles you.

Wisdom Quotes

2007-03-29T20:34:00.000-07:00

Wisdom Quotes

Psalm 23 Trans. from Norwegian

2007-03-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

Psalm 23 (Salmenes 23)
Det Norsk Bibelselskap 1930
translated by Grace Onan

The Lord is my shepherd
I need nothing

He lays me down in green meadows
He leads me to the still waters

He refreshes my soul
He guides me on rightful paths
for His names sake

If I should wander
in the shadows of death valley
I fear no evil
for You are with me
Your stick and Your cane
they comfort me

You prepare a table right before me
in front of my enemies eyes
You anoint my head with oil
my beaker runs over

Only goodness and mercy
shall come after me
all my life’s days
and I shall live in God’s house
throughout a long life

Psalmi 23 (Romanian)

2007-03-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

1 (O cîntare a lui David.) Domnul este Păstorul meu: nu voi duce lipsă de nimic. 2 El mă paşte în păşuni verzi, şi mă duce la ape de odihnă; 3 îmi înviorează sufletul, şi mă povăţuieşte pe cărări drepte, din pricina Numelui Său. 4 Chiar dacă ar fi să umblu prin valea umbrei morţii, nu mă tem de niciun rău, căci Tu eşti cu mine. Toiagul şi nuiaua Ta mă mîngîie. 5 Tu îmi întinzi masa în faţa protivnicilor mei; îmi ungi capul cu untdelemn, şi paharul meu este plin de dă peste el. 6 Da, fericirea şi îndurarea mă vor însoţi în toate zilele vieţii mele, şi voi locui în Casa Domnului pînă la sfîrşitul zilelor mele.

Псалтирь 23 (Russian)

2007-03-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

1 (22-1) ^^Псалом Давида.^^ Господь--Пастырь мой; я ни в чем не буду нуждаться: 2 (22-2) Он покоит меня на злачных пажитях и водит меня к водам тихим, 3 (22-3) подкрепляет душу мою, направляет меня на стези правды ради имени Своего. 4 (22-4) Если я пойду и долиною смертной тени, не убоюсь зла, потому что Ты со мной; Твой жезл и Твой посох--они успокаивают меня. 5 (22-5) Ты приготовил предо мною трапезу в виду врагов моих; умастил елеем голову мою; чаша моя преисполнена. 6 (22-6) Так, благость и милость да сопровождают меня во все дни жизни моей, и я пребуду в доме Господнем многие дни.

Psalmet 23 (Albanian)

2007-03-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

1 Zoti është bariu im, asgjë nuk do të më mungojë. 2 Ai më çon në kullota me bar të njomë, më drejton pranë ujërave që të çlodhin. 3 Ai ma përtërin shpirtin, më çon nëpër shtigjet e drejtësisë, nga dashuria që ka për emrin e tij. 4 Edhe sikur të ecja në luginën e hijes së vdekjes, nuk do të kisha frikë nga asnjë e keqe, sepse ti je me mua; shkopi yt dhe thupra jote janë ato që më japin zemër. 5 Ti shtron para meje tryezën në prani të armiqve të mi; ti vajos kokën time me vaj; kupa ime po derdhet. 6 Me siguri pasuri dhe mirësi do të më shoqërojnë në gjithë ditët e jetës ime; dhe unë do të banoj në shtëpinë e Zotit ditë të gjata.

Salmos 23 (Portuguese)

2007-03-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

1 O Senhor é o meu pastor; nada me faltará. 2 Deitar-me faz em pastos verdejantes; guia-me mansamente a águas tranqüilas. 3 Refrigera a minha alma; guia-me nas veredas da justiça por amor do seu nome. 4 Ainda que eu ande pelo vale da sombra da morte, não temerei mal algum, porque tu estás comigo; a tua vara e o teu cajado me consolam. 5 Preparas uma mesa perante mim na presença dos meus inimigos; unges com óleo a minha cabeça, o meu cálice transborda. 6 Certamente que a bondade e a misericórdia me seguirão todos os dias da minha vida, e habitarei na casa do Senhor por longos dias.

Thi-thieân 23 (Vietnamese)

2007-03-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

1 Đức Giê-hô-va là Đấng chăn giữ tôi: tôi sẽ chẳng thiếu thốn gì. 2 Ngài khiến tôi an nghỉ nơi đồng cỏ xanh tươi, Dẫn tôi đến mé nước bình tịnh. 3 Ngài bổ lại linh hồn tôi, Dẫn tôi vào các lối công bình, vì cớ danh Ngài. 4 Dầu khi tôi đi trong trũng bóng chết, Tôi sẽ chẳng sợ tai họa nào; vì Chúa ở cùng tôi; Cây trượng và cây gậy của Chúa an ủi tôi. 5 Chúa dọn bàn cho tôi Trước mặt kẻ thù nghịch tôi; Chúa xức dầu cho đầu tôi, Chén tôi đầy tràn. 6 Quả thật, trọn đời tôi Phước hạnh và sự thương xót sẽ theo tôi; Tôi sẽ ở trong nhà Đức Giê-hô-va Cho đến lâu dài.

詩篇 23 (Chinese)

2007-03-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

1 （大衛的詩。）耶和華是我的牧者，我必不致缺乏。
2 他使我躺臥在青草地上，領我在可安歇的水邊。
3 他使我的靈魂甦醒，為自己的名引導我走義路。
4 我雖然行過死蔭的幽谷，也不怕遭害，因為你與我同在；你的杖，你的竿，都安慰我。
5 在我敵人面前，你為我擺設筵席；你用油膏了我的頭，使我的福杯滿溢。
6 我一生一世必有恩惠慈愛隨著我；我且要住在耶和華的殿中，直到永遠。

PSALM 23 (Hebrew)

2007-03-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

א מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד: יְהוָה רֹעִי, לֹא אֶחְסָר.
ב בִּנְאוֹת דֶּשֶׁא, יַרְבִּיצֵנִי; עַל-מֵי מְנֻחוֹת יְנַהֲלֵנִי.
ג נַפְשִׁי יְשׁוֹבֵב; יַנְחֵנִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי-צֶדֶק, לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ.
ד גַּם כִּי-אֵלֵךְ בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת, לֹא-אִירָא רָע--
כִּי-אַתָּה עִמָּדִי;שִׁבְטְךָ וּמִשְׁעַנְתֶּךָ, הֵמָּה יְנַחֲמֻנִי.
ה תַּעֲרֹךְ לְפָנַי, שֻׁלְחָן--
נֶגֶד צֹרְרָי;דִּשַּׁנְתָּ בַשֶּׁמֶן רֹאשִׁי, כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה.
ו אַךְ, טוֹב וָחֶסֶד יִרְדְּפוּנִי--
כָּל-יְמֵי חַיָּי;וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית-יְהוָה, לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים.

시편 23 (Korean)

2007-03-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

1 여호와는 나의 목자시니 내가 부족함이 없으리로다
2 그가 나를 푸른 초장에 누이시며 쉴만한 물 가으로 인도하시는도다
3 내 영혼을 소생시키시고 자기 이름을 위하여 의의 길로 인도하시는도다
4 내가 사망의 음침한 골짜기로 다닐찌라도 해를 두려워하지 않을 것은 주께서 나와 함께 하심이라 주의 지팡이와 막대기가 나를 안위하시나이다
5 주께서 내 원수의 목전에서 내게 상을 베푸시고 기름으로 내 머리에 바르셨으니 내 잔이 넘치나이다
6 나의 평생에 선하심과 인자하심이 정녕 나를 따르리니 내가 여호와의 집에 영원히 거하리로다

Psaume 23 (French)

2007-03-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

1 Cantique de David. L'Éternel est mon berger: je ne manquerai de rien. 2 Il me fait reposer dans de verts pâturages, Il me dirige près des eaux paisibles. 3 Il restaure mon âme, Il me conduit dans les sentiers de la justice, A cause de son nom. 4 Quand je marche dans la vallée de l'ombre de la mort, Je ne crains aucun mal, car tu es avec moi: Ta houlette et ton bâton me rassurent. 5 Tu dresses devant moi une table, En face de mes adversaires; Tu oins d'huile ma tête, Et ma coupe déborde. 6 Oui, le bonheur et la grâce m'accompagneront Tous les jours de ma vie, Et j'habiterai dans la maison de l'Éternel Jusqu'à la fin de mes jours

Psalm 23-The Message

2007-03-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

1-3 God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction. 4 Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure. 5 You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing. 6 Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.

Japanese paraphrase Ps.23

2007-03-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

The Lord is my pacesetter. I shall not rush. He makes me stop for quiet intervals. He provides me with images of stillness which restores me. He leads me in the paths of efficiency through His guidance in peace. Even though I have a great many things to do each day, I will not fret for His presence is here. His timelessness will keep me in balance. He renews me in the midst of my activities with His oil of tranquility, my cup of joy overflows. Surely harmony shall be the fruit of my hours, and I shall walk in the pace of the Lord and dwell in His house forever.

Psalm 23-King James

2007-03-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Psalm 23 German Luther

2007-03-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

1 Der HERR ist mein Hirte; mir wird nichts mangeln. 2 Er weidet mich auf grüner Aue und führet mich zum frischen Wasser. 3 Er erquicket meine Seele; er führet mich auf rechter Straße um seines Namens willen. 4 Und ob ich schon wanderte im finstern Tal, fürchte ich kein Unglück; denn du bist bei mir, dein Stecken und dein Stab trösten mich. 5 Du bereitest vor mir einen Tisch im Angesicht meiner Feinde. Du salbest mein Haupt mit Öl und schenkest mir voll ein. 6 Gutes und Barmherzigkeit werden mir folgen mein Leben lang, und ich werde bleiben im Hause des HERRN immerdar.

Salmenes 23 - Norwegian

2007-03-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

1 Herren er min hyrde, mig fattes intet. 2 Han lar mig ligge i grønne enger, han leder mig til hvilens vann. 3 Han vederkveger min sjel, han fører mig på rettferdighets stier for sitt navns skyld. 4 Om jeg enn skulde vandre i dødsskyggens dal, frykter jeg ikke for ondt; for du er med mig, din kjepp og din stav de trøster mig. 5 Du dekker bord for mig like for mine fienders øine, du salver mitt hode med olje; mitt beger flyter over. 6 Bare godt og miskunnhet skal efterjage mig alle mitt livs dager, og jeg skal bo i Herrens hus gjennem lange tider.

Psaltaren 23 – Swedish

2007-03-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

1-2 Herren är min herde, och därför har jag allt vad jag behöver. Han låter mig vila på gröna ängar och leder mig till källor med friskt vatten. 3 Han ger mig ständigt ny styrka till kropp och själ. Han leder mig på rätta vägar och hjälper mig leva efter sin vilja. 4 Även om jag vandrar genom dödens mörka dal, behöver jag inte vara rädd, för du finns bredvid mig, och din käpp och stav hjälper mig på vägen. 5 Du ger mig god mat mitt framför ögonen på mina fiender, ja, jag får vara din hedersgäst. Du fyller min bägare till brädden, och dina välsignelser flödar 6 Din godhet, vänskap och kärlek följer mig i hela mitt liv, och jag ska alltid få bo i ditt hus.
över!

Salmos 23-Spanish

2007-03-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

1 El Señor es mi pastor, nada me falta; 2 en verdes pastos me hace descansar. Junto a tranquilas aguas me conduce; 3 me infunde nuevas fuerzas.Me guía por sendas de justicia por amor a su nombre. 4 Aun si voy por valles tenebrosos, no temo peligro alguno porque tú estás a mi lado; tu vara de pastor me reconforta. 5 Dispones ante mí un banquete en presencia de mis enemigos. Has ungido con perfume mi cabeza; has llenado mi copa a rebosar. 6 La bondad y el amor me seguirántodos los días de mi vida; y en la casa del Señor habitaré para siempre.

2007-02-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

(The) Wisdom of Tradition(s)

HOSPICE ARTICLE

QUESTIONS?

Wisdom Quotes

Psalm 23 Trans. from Norwegian

Psalmi 23 (Romanian)

Псалтирь 23 (Russian)

Psalmet 23 (Albanian)

Salmos 23 (Portuguese)

Thi-thieân 23 (Vietnamese)

詩 篇 23 (Chinese)

PSALM 23 (Hebrew)

시편 23 (Korean)

Psaume 23 (French)

Psalm 23-The Message

Japanese paraphrase Ps.23

Psalm 23-King James

Psalm 23 German Luther

Salmenes 23 - Norwegian

Psaltaren 23 – Swedish

Salmos 23-Spanish

詩篇 23 (Chinese)