Walking the path

(4-minute read)

Recently, our family and some people we meet with began experiencing a series of almost daily unfortunate events. In my case, it was destroying my health, finances, and ability to care for things in everyday life. I’m not suggesting anyone follow my lead on what I did, nor am I suggesting anyone start any new traditions.

We have all met people who occasionally feel they are living under the proverbial black cloud of misfortune. Disasters such as health, finances, misunderstandings, or accidents become almost expected as part of the daily routine. It is as if something spiritual, not from the Lord, is following them around, causing physical calamities.

The Lord spoke through pictures to the Jews to establish traditions to cleanse themselves in times like these. The picture of this cleansing first occurred when the Jewish nation went through the Red Sea after parting the waters. Two things happened that day. First, the Jewish nation was “baptized” in the sea, setting them apart for God. The second thing that happened was that which enslaved them, the pharaoh’s army was destroyed in the sea. Much later, John the Baptist set apart individuals to the Lord through a baptism of repentance. Being set apart to the Lord only needs to occur once, but cleansing from things trying to enslave us is ongoing.

Traditionally, Jews did this ongoing cleansing using the mikvah (sometimes spelled mikveh), a small chest-deep pool inside the synagogue. The same cleansing could be done in a river or the sea.

This tradition is even carried on with utensils or items for use in the Lord’s work. For example, the utensils used for making sacrifices in the temple, such as a knife, would first be set apart for the Lord by being submerged in water and proclaimed that they were now only for the use of the Lord. This would only occur once in the life of that knife. After the knife was used, it would be washed. Before it was used again, it would be immersed in water to remove any dust or dirt that might still be clinging to it. It was made clean for the Lord’s use. This last immersion would be similar to what is done for a person in a mikvah. The cleansing in the mikvah isn’t done by the water but by the Lord. The person simply places themselves into the picture and tradition that the Lord established. The mikvah doesn’t require the assistance of another person as the individuals pray for themselves.

Although Christians follow the tradition of baptizing to set a person apart for the Lord, they don’t typically follow the tradition of the mikvah. It is probably easiest to follow this tradition this time of year by going to the beach or swimming pool, but it could be done in a bathtub, if large enough. The traditional Jewish prayers are unnecessary, but I’ll include the standard two prayers traditionally used.

A person would go into the water deep enough, bend down or squat until completely immersed, then stand up and pray:

(Hebrew)

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל הַטְבִלָה

(Hebrew pronunciation)

Barukh atah Adonay Eloheynu melekh ha-olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al ha-t’vilah.

(English translation)

Blessed are thou, oh Lord our God, king of the universe, who sanctifies us through commandments and has enjoined us concerning immersion.

They would then immerse themselves the second time and pray:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמָן הַזֶּה

Barukh atah Adonay, Eloheynu melekh ha-olam, shehekheyanu, v’kiy’manu, v’higianu, la-z’man ha-zeh.

Blessed is the Eternal, the God of all creation, who has blessed me with life, sustained me, and enabled me to reach this moment.

Under certain conditions, there could be a third prayer, which varies depending on the situation. Some natural events cause trauma, and the mikvah helps a person leave the effects of that trauma with the Lord.

Our cleansing of spiritual things isn’t by our own power or the power of the water. The Lord cleanses us and makes us whole. We simply pray and then leave it in his hands. It is this “leaving it to the Lord” that is my personal problem. I tend to be one of those “work the problem until it’s fixed” people. This immersion simply creates an event at a point in time that we can look back to and say, “I left that with the Lord there in the water, and I no longer need to be concerned about it.”

Walking with the Lord and keeping within his plan for our life is not all mountain tops and happiness. He intentionally takes us down into valleys where we become afraid. He tells us not to be afraid of evil because he’s with us, but we still go down into the valley. Being taken down into the valley doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us. It is for our good. God loved Jesus and sent him down into the valley to get us.

After spending weeks under my own cloud of misfortune, I couldn’t tell if a particular misfortune was the Lord taking me into one of his valleys or if it was a spiritual enemy trying to discourage me. I decided to do the immersion, and I simply prayed:

Oh Lord, cleanse me of any spiritual thing that is not from you.

That was 10 days ago, and most of the misfortunes have stopped. There is one area that continues, and I believe that it comes from the Lord. I must be somewhat vague here because many of you know where I live, and I don’t want you to try to help me out of this situation. Although I don’t know why, I know that I need the valley of the Lord. I believe the Lord is changing our life and leading us into a new adventure. I feel more at peace than I have in a very long time. The mikvah-type immersion has helped me trust the Lord.