Think about a time you were really down, a time when you were so filled with despair that you had no idea how you would rise again - Are you still in that place? What helped you get up? What did you learn about yourself by how you rose up from that darkness? It is a spiritual principle that there is an essential ebb and flow in life. We see it Continue Reading
You All Got A’s: Day 24: Journey of the Soul: Making the Omer Count*
We continue with this week’s kavannah (intention), which is: Being In The Unknown In yesterday's Omer reflection, we talked about the courage to “hang out” in the unknown. Today, we share a story about the feelings that can emerge when we inhabit a place of not knowing. We were at the very first retreat as part of the 6th cohort of the Rabbinic Continue Reading
Shabbat is The Day We Let Go of the Illusion…
Shabbat is the day we let go of the illusion that we are in control. We accept the world as it is given, rather than trying to mold it to our wishes. We are free to impose our will by DO-ing six days of the week. On the seventh day, Shabbat, we are supposed to take a breath and just BE. I love Rabbi Alan Lew's teaching that on Shabbat, God takes a breath. Continue Reading
who what where why god?
what is god? Where is God? who is god? is God looking for me? God is too big and too small to name - words can only attempt, approximate, give a feel for, the experience. One reason poetry and music are wonderful in god-discussions is because they speak the language of metaphor. Metaphor frees us up to express the vastness and smallness, the out-there and Continue Reading
the silence that speaks
Upon awakening the first morning in our new place, the very first thing I noticed was the deep silence. Instinctively I took the deepest breath I had taken in months. Until we moved here to Laguna Woods, I didn’t even realize the noise level in west Los Angeles. I had obviously gotten accustomed to the constant roar of the freeway and the city Continue Reading
