A Few Worthwhile Moments for A Few Worthwhile Causes

IsraellyCool and others are reporting that another Israeli seems to have been kidnapped, this one in the West Bank. It is worthwhile to take a few moments out to do as Olah Chadasha suggested and post a short prayer (as she did) on your blog for your readers to read, no matter their religion or faith (or lack thereof). After spending the better part of an hour searching for a prayer that was fitting, I came back to the one we often say in dire situations. Upon reading it again, I was reminded of just why it is the one we often say:

Psalms Chapter 121

א שִׁיר, לַמַּעֲלוֹת: אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי, אֶל-הֶהָרִים-- מֵאַיִן, יָבֹא עֶזְרִי.	1 A Song of Ascents. {N} I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come?
ב עֶזְרִי, מֵעִם יְהוָה-- עֹשֵׂה, שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ.	2 My help cometh from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
ג אַל-יִתֵּן לַמּוֹט רַגְלֶךָ; אַל-יָנוּם, שֹׁמְרֶךָ.	3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
ד הִנֵּה לֹא-יָנוּם, וְלֹא יִישָׁן-- שׁוֹמֵר, יִשְׂרָאֵל.	4 Behold, He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep.
ה יְהוָה שֹׁמְרֶךָ; יְהוָה צִלְּךָ, עַל-יַד יְמִינֶךָ.	5 The LORD is thy keeper; the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
ו יוֹמָם, הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לֹא-יַכֶּכָּה; וְיָרֵחַ בַּלָּיְלָה.	6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
ז יְהוָה, יִשְׁמָרְךָ מִכָּל-רָע: יִשְׁמֹר, אֶת-נַפְשֶׁךָ.	7 The LORD shall keep thee from all evil; He shall keep thy soul.
ח יְהוָה, יִשְׁמָר-צֵאתְךָ וּבוֹאֶךָ-- מֵעַתָּה, וְעַד-עוֹלָם.	8 The LORD shall guard thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth and for ever. {P}

Please pray for Gilad ben Aviva (Shalit) and Eliyahu Ashri.

Meanwhile, Mis-Nagid has an incredible post up at DovBear's about (tzedakah) charity. Excerpt:

It was towards the end of our shift, late at night. My father and I carried the boxes to the door, rang the doorbell, and shuffled the weight around in our arms while waiting for an answer. We heard scuffling and the door was yanked open. In the doorway was a very tired-looking middle-aged woman with eyes that said "Hurry." But before she had a chance to even greet us, the night's stillness was pierced by a shocking shriek. Her daughter, a girl of maybe fourteen, was screaming at her mother with ferocity to behold, yelling at her for taking the food from tzedakah. The daughter was embarrassed and furious and screamed and screamed right in her mother's face. "I DON'T WANT IT! WE DON'T NEED IT! WE'RE NOT TAKING TZEDAKAH!"

Please read it.

After those, here is something a bit lighter, courtesy of my mother. A man posted a 1-minute video clip of the Comcast man who fell asleep while on hold for an hour with Comcast at the customer's house. It's hilarious (and sad). It made me think of Dell. Here's the article, and here's the video.

I'm sure there was something else I'd wanted to post, but I'm drawing a blank for now. Back to work!