Thursday, April 9, 2009

Dayenu

I realized that I didn't say how the actual Seder went and I will in a different post, but first I wanted to talk about Dayenu.

Dayenu is a Hebrew word that means "it would have been enough," and is one of the songs sung at Passover.

The words to the version we sang in English are:
If you had just brought us out of Egypt, it would have been enough.
If you had only given us the Sabbath, it would have been enough.
If you had only given us the Torah, it would have been enough.
If you had only given us Messiah, it would have been enough.


I would imagine the ancient Hebrews just wanted to stop being slaves and go home to their father's land but God had so much more planned for them. There is a longer version here at Wikipedia that also mentions much more such as being given the Egyptians wealth, the sea being divided, providing manna, and building the Temple.

God still allows His blessings to overflow on us. If you had only saved us from hell and not wanted anything from us, it would have been enough.
If you had only wanted our worship and not wanted a relationship, it would have been enough.
If you had just wanted a relationship with us and not wanted us to be your children, it would have been enough."


Yet how often do we respond like children? If you feed children a meal, it is enough. If you give them cupcakes with sprinkles, it should be enough but someone will complain because someone else got more sprinkles.

"God, I like having a roof over my head but I want it to be bigger like the Jones." "God, I like my kid but I want him on the honor roll like Mary's kid."

We I need to make a more conscious effort to notice thank Him for the blessings we are given.

Dayenu.

2 comments:

  1. Great post, and so very true. Our human side takes over far to often...

    Recent blog post: Smooth

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  2. Thanks for this post. What a great reminder!

    Recent blog post: Dear Ethan

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