The Chosen

[Grmps]

The Chosen
by
Chaim Potok

....... my father didn’t seem to have heard me. He sat on the bed, lost in thought. We were quiet for a long time. Then he stirred and said softly, “Reuven, do you know what the rabbis tell us God said to Moses when he was about to die?”

I stared at him. “No,” I heard myself say.

“He said to Moses, ‘You have toiled and labored, now you are worthy of rest.’”

I stared at him and didn’t say anything.

“You are no longer a child, Reuven.....” He paused for a moment , as if considering his next words carefully, then continued. “Human beings do not live forever, Reuven. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our eyes against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life when there is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye?” He paused again, his eyes misty now, then went on.

“I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. That I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest.......”

(from pages 204 - 205)

[Thin Man]

Timely post. I have a close friend, we go back over 50 years. Over these years we have been close enough to prank and practical joke each other at any time. No holds barred and catch as - catch can. He is a firearms enthusiast, reloader, loves accurate rifles and handguns, his wife and family, his friends and America. Early on he joined the Marines, went to Viet Nam. Discharged and returned to the day job he had before serving but remained in the Reserves. His employer got aggravated at his work absences for drill, etc, but he stayed with them. When Desert Shield came up he was not called up, but when Desert Storm brewed up he volunteered to serve again. He became the oldest sniper in the theater, survived the deployment and came back home to the same day job as before. Time passed and he retired. Then his body began to fail to multiple problems. For the past 4-5 years the medical problems have been coming to him faster and heavier. Today he is, again, back in the hospital for treatment of whatever it is worrying him now. His future is short, and when he goes he will take a piece of me with him. I will be there to assist his wife and family any way they need, as I know he would have done for mine. He and I were cut from the same bolt of cloth. We believe in friendship, but don't have a lot of friends. The friends we do have can always count on us, and we on them.

[GhostHawk]

Thank him for me Thin man if you please sir.

As I grow older and weary the story above speaks to me.

And I don't even remember where I know that name Chaim Potok from. But it RINGS when I read it.

Sigh, rest at the end, does not sound so bad.

[shdwlkr]

I wonder how many veterans have thought about this subject and even questioned why they are still here and friends, buddies are gone
I believe the answer is really quite simple each of us has if you will allow tasks that we need to accomplish in this life and our life time is the time we are given to accomplish said task(s). No I don't think life is meant to be easy all the time, I believe we each have our own bumps in the road, detours, potholes, dead ends and yes some good times, but in the end because of how we are made by the creator our bodies last only so many decades and then we get to leave this life and move on to the next. My .03 cents inflation

[Char-Gar]

Anyone who has not thought about their own mortality, has never really thought.

[fivefang]

Grmps, Shabbat Shalom,( ein augenblick) a blink of the eye, yes, in 1940,I was 6 ,a Italian Warschip arrived in Qingdao( Tsingtao) I do not know if it was bringing the Cracano Typ. I rifles to the Japanese Marines which were in China, a few days ago I was able to purchase a Typ. I, it just seemed like a moment ago that I saw Italian Navy Sailors enjoying the beach there, little did I understand why it was there, strange, is it possible that it actually was delivering the Typ. I rifles?? Fivefang

[10x]

It is the good you do for others, without expectation of compensation or reward. There is pleasure in the gift of giving, especially to those who do not expect to be given anything at all

I blinked and suddenly I have more yesterday's than tomorrow's. All the tomorrow's I have left become more precious every day.

[Smoke4320]

It is the good you do for others, without expectation of compensation or reward. There is pleasure in the gift of giving, especially to those who do not expect to be given anything at all

I blinked and suddenly I have more yesterday's than tomorrow's. All the tomorrow's I have left become more precious every day.

can relate to that for sure .. Looked around and now probably too late to set out for the west because the sun is setting

[shdwlkr]

Smoke I waited almost 38 years to move out west, sorry in some ways I didn't come out here sooner, but dad made me promise to stay at a job I didn't really like for the retirement package, glad I listened to dad about that fact. I have more yesterdays then tomorrows left in this life and at times I am very glad and at other times very sad. Our young people today are being set up for a terrible future and so much of what us old guys and gals know will be lost to them when they need it most.

[Smoke4320]

Smoke I waited almost 38 years to move out west, sorry in some ways I didn't come out here sooner, but dad made me promise to stay at a job I didn't really like for the retirement package, glad I listened to dad about that fact. I have more yesterdays then tomorrows left in this life and at times I am very glad and at other times very sad. Our young people today are being set up for a terrible future and so much of what us old guys and gals know will be lost to them when they need it most.

fact is you can't get most of them to listen at all either though.. heads buryed in a cell phone on YouTube or Facebook

[blackthorn]

There is only 21 years between my oldest son and I. I never really felt old until he had his 50th birthday and---HOLY SMOKE" I'm over 70!!! Since then the years just seem to melt away.