Friday, March 26, 2010

What's love got to do with Passover?

On the first night of Passover, there is a tradition to read the Song of Songs at the Seder.

Most people know the Song of Songs as a love story between a man and a woman. The rabbis interpreted the book as a love story between the people of Israel and God.

What does love have to do with freedom?

It was God's love that encouraged us to leave the oppressed place we call Egypt.

It was God's love that carried us through the desert protecting us at every dangerous turn.

It was God's love that provided physical and spiritual nourishment throughout the journey.

When we are in relationship with God and with each other, we are free. When we cut ourselves off from God's love, we are back in the the narrow place of slavery that constricts our hearts.

On Passover we are free to love one another.

Why not begin your Passover Seder with verses from the Song of Songs?

Arise, my beloved, my beauty, and come away. For the winter is over, the rain has passed. The buds have been seen in the land,the time of the nightingale has arrived, and the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land . . . Arise, my beloved, my beauty, and come away!

Friday, March 19, 2010

protest video

End Less

All too often life takes an unpredictable turn, and we find ourselves on a dead end street.

Or so we think.

We step outside the car only to find that the dead end street has a beautiful path into the woods.

We walk through the verdant woods to the other side.

An opening so bold and so vast stares back at us.

Our dreams are alive in the green pastures before us.

Life gives us "Dead Ends" so we can see beyond them.

Friday, March 12, 2010

The Greater Good

We never know when we will be called upon to serve the greater good. The interview with Kojo Nnamdi yesterday was an effort to release the good vibrations of Divine intervention between Rev. John McCoy and me.

Thanks for listening, if you were able. If not, the audio is available here, and a description of the interview, here. Please share with your friends and families.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Doing the Right Thing

During the Holocaust, righteous gentiles were asked why they protected and hid Jews during the war. In spite of the dangers that existed, they all simply stated: “It was the right thing to do.”

Doing the right thing is never simple or easy. When people all around you are not doing the right thing out of fear and self-preservation, the correct choices become cloudy and cumbersome.

Take a look at the tapestry of you life. What would you sacrifice to do the right thing?

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Reminder: Please join me today, at 12:30 p.m., at The George Washington University Hospital (900 23rd Street NW, Metro: Foggy Bottom) at a rally to protest my firing in August. I will be speaking, along with several other leaders of the D.C. religious community.

And if you can't make it to the rally (and haven't already done so), please take a moment to sign the petition to GWU Hospital.

This Sunday, March 7, at 4:00 p.m., I will be speaking on a "Faith and Healing" panel at the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning's Routes event. The event is all-day, at the Washington Convention Center (801 Mount Vernon Place NW, Washington, DC 20001). Click here for a complete list of speakers, and here to register.

Later that evening, at 7:15 p.m., I will be speaking on an interfaith panel, "Developing Understanding Among Abrahamic Faiths: Opportunities for Cooperation in the Local Community," at St. Charles Catholic Church (3304 Washington Blvd., Arlington, Virginia 22201).

Thank you for your continuing support, and I hope to see you today and/or Sunday!