In Reply to: Re: Amida posted by CB on January 06, 2010 at 21:57:43:
I've been thinking about this Jewish liturgical prayer I found at a website of Temple Beth Zion in New York. I googled "self-emptying prayer" and the links led to the congregation's prayer book. I know virtually nothing about Jewish worship, so I spent some time looking up the words "Amida" and "Avot H'Imahot," both of which appeared in the context of this prayer.
Amidah is the central prayer of Jewish worship services. In Hebrew the term is Tefilat HaAmidah, which literally means Standing Prayer. So, one stands in the congregation and speaks these words in the presence of witnesses, which seems sort of like saying the Lord's Prayer at some Christian churches. It seems to me that the Amidah is also like saying the Creed--in some ways, it reads like a confession of faith.
What I found interesting about this contemporary Amidah is that it stands traditional God talk on its head. In the traditional form, the Amidah starts out like: "Blessed are you, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the great, mighty and revered God, the Most High God who bestows lovingkindnesses..." If you're interested, you can read the whole thing at the wiki on Amidah.
So my point is? It's hard to talk about religious or spiritual experience in a way that doesn't trip us up in loaded language and cliches. Lots of times I've wondered if the God of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar is the same God I talk to and hear speaking. Sometimes I wonder if people who say they're Christian are following the same Way that I've learned to love and trust. If there's only one Way, one Teacher who leads us into Truth and brings us Life, why are there so many different versions of it under the Jesus brand name alone?
This line of thinking points to questions more relevant to this board, like whether Karen Zerby is a Christian at some level or a total counterfeit. Or whether someone who does not adhere to Bible-based dogma has strayed from the Truth and Life of the Way, which are words loaded with many levels of nuanced meaning in the original Greek of John's Gospel. Fortunately, I've gotten some instruction on the matter: Judge not, lest ye be judged. The only soul I'm responsible for is my own.