Life is a braided string of doings. We flutter from goal to goal only to find that our wings are tired of the continual movements necessary to keep flying. Rather, we find our spiritual rhythms in the sacred sanctuaries of timelessness and stasis.
As Jews enter into the Higher Holidays of our spiritual calendar and character, assess your spiritual measurements with these questions: "What has my life been all about up till now? What am I living for? What is life all about for me today?”
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Regret and Repentance
Behold I regret what I did and I am embarrassed by my deeds. I promise never to repeat this act again. ~Moses Maimonides, Laws of Repentance
Embarrassment and regret catapults us into the world of change and repentance. The very thing that embarrassed you is the key to an altered lifestyle. Accept your regrets and initiate new strategies for success. Make a pledge to yourself to stay in integrity with all your decisions.
Embarrassment and regret catapults us into the world of change and repentance. The very thing that embarrassed you is the key to an altered lifestyle. Accept your regrets and initiate new strategies for success. Make a pledge to yourself to stay in integrity with all your decisions.
Friday, September 9, 2011
The Sea and the Heart
All the streams run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. Ecclesiastes 1:7
There is an expansiveness in life and nature that can never be fully contained or fully completed. Like human wisdom, there are no limits on the ability of the heart to expand and to stretch and to love.
There is an expansiveness in life and nature that can never be fully contained or fully completed. Like human wisdom, there are no limits on the ability of the heart to expand and to stretch and to love.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Realizing the Impossible
“Whenever you think something’s impossible, it simply means that you haven’t considered all the possibilities.” ~Sri Gawn Tu Fahr
As I look back on my life, I extract an extraordinary spiritual tool. I recognize the times in my life when the impossible actually happened. With my awareness heightened, I realize that more impossible things will happen if I consider all the possibilities.
Tapping into the wisdom of the past catapults us into the dynamics of the present where the future also resides.
Close your eyes. Meditate on a past achievement. Breathe into the joy of that reality.
Open your eyes. Smile. Dream again into that impossible dream.
P.S. I will be on the pulpit at Temple Micah (2829 Wisconsin Ave NW) this weekend! Please join me tomorrow, Friday, September 2, at 6:00 p.m. and/or on Saturday, September 3, at 10:00 a.m. We will be celebrating "Labor on the Bimah," and all are welcome!
As I look back on my life, I extract an extraordinary spiritual tool. I recognize the times in my life when the impossible actually happened. With my awareness heightened, I realize that more impossible things will happen if I consider all the possibilities.
Tapping into the wisdom of the past catapults us into the dynamics of the present where the future also resides.
Close your eyes. Meditate on a past achievement. Breathe into the joy of that reality.
Open your eyes. Smile. Dream again into that impossible dream.
P.S. I will be on the pulpit at Temple Micah (2829 Wisconsin Ave NW) this weekend! Please join me tomorrow, Friday, September 2, at 6:00 p.m. and/or on Saturday, September 3, at 10:00 a.m. We will be celebrating "Labor on the Bimah," and all are welcome!
Friday, August 26, 2011
The Stone of Hope
I was 16, living in the Bronx, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his immortal "I Have A Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
A few nights ago my friend and I walked three miles to preview the newest memorial in the nation’s capital where I now reside.
When we arrived at the central entryway to the memorial entitled "The Mountain of Despair," our eyes are drawn upward to the Stone of Hope, a 30-foot likeness of this civil rights reverend. Like the eyes of the Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci, Dr. King’s eyes follow us as we walk around the monument.
What is he asking of us? What answers do we have to offer him? Where does justice dwell today? Where is the righteous peace that he dreamt about so many decades ago?
The monumental granite statue of Dr. King revives our deepest desires for justice and equality, democracy and love.
Dare we dream again?
Please note: The dedication, which was to have taken place this Sunday, August 28, has been postponed indefinitely due to the arrival of Hurricane Irene this weekend in Washington, DC. Go to the webiste for more information: www.washington.org/mlk
A few nights ago my friend and I walked three miles to preview the newest memorial in the nation’s capital where I now reside.
When we arrived at the central entryway to the memorial entitled "The Mountain of Despair," our eyes are drawn upward to the Stone of Hope, a 30-foot likeness of this civil rights reverend. Like the eyes of the Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci, Dr. King’s eyes follow us as we walk around the monument.
What is he asking of us? What answers do we have to offer him? Where does justice dwell today? Where is the righteous peace that he dreamt about so many decades ago?
The monumental granite statue of Dr. King revives our deepest desires for justice and equality, democracy and love.
Dare we dream again?
Please note: The dedication, which was to have taken place this Sunday, August 28, has been postponed indefinitely due to the arrival of Hurricane Irene this weekend in Washington, DC. Go to the webiste for more information: www.washington.org/mlk
Friday, August 19, 2011
Priority Passenger
A young man with stumped arms and legs wheeled himself towards the priority seating boarding line. The stewardess quickly offered assistance, and together with another crew member the three disappeared down the breezeway.
An Iraq casualty? A suicide bomber attack? An innocent civilian caught in the middle of a battle?
A mother’s son. A country’s soldier.
My mind did not settle down during the fifteen minutes it took me to embark the plane as a number four zone, economy-class passenger.
I entered the aircraft and again encountered the priority passenger seated in the first row, first class, aisle seat. With the precision of someone with ten fingers, my mystery man was typing away on his iPad.
I drifted out of pity mode and melted into awe and admiration.
He deserves every priority on every plane, train and boat anywhere in this world.
An Iraq casualty? A suicide bomber attack? An innocent civilian caught in the middle of a battle?
A mother’s son. A country’s soldier.
My mind did not settle down during the fifteen minutes it took me to embark the plane as a number four zone, economy-class passenger.
I entered the aircraft and again encountered the priority passenger seated in the first row, first class, aisle seat. With the precision of someone with ten fingers, my mystery man was typing away on his iPad.
I drifted out of pity mode and melted into awe and admiration.
He deserves every priority on every plane, train and boat anywhere in this world.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Dream and Deed
Dream and deed are not as different as many think. All the deeds of men are dreams at first, and become dreams in the end. -Theodore Herzl, journalist, visionary, Zionist, and founder of the state of Israel
Our daily work is filled with little dreams that get accomplished through a big vision. The dreams of our unconscious longing are embedded in our mind’s third eye and get translated into motions and actions that share the space.
May your dreams and deeds expand into a reality of your own making.
Our daily work is filled with little dreams that get accomplished through a big vision. The dreams of our unconscious longing are embedded in our mind’s third eye and get translated into motions and actions that share the space.
May your dreams and deeds expand into a reality of your own making.
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