After Experiencing A Sedar For The First Night Of Passover, A New Train Of Thought Is Added To My Experience---

Several years ago my husband & I attended a Passover Sedar hosted by the Chabad Community in the area of where my mother lives.  We returned again yesterday evening as guests of this warm hearted & generous community, of whom we thank today.  

As always the central theme of Passover is the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt & our wandering in the dessert for 40 years.  The topic of Egypt & our leaving this land thousands of years ago, to this day is a very foremost exercise in working through our attachments--- for when we leave this world the only attachment I have learned along this journey that is to be meaningful & everlasting is our relationship with God.

Several days ago when I experienced a sense of exclusion through an aspect of language people have been known to communicate through, for it was evident with visible cues yet very suttle, my radar picked it up.  On the broad scheme of things truly it is not a crucial element to the purposeful life I focus on & aim to lead, though it was very painful to live through at the time. Ultimately Passover reminds me of the reason why I'm here, where I am going & how to get there.  It is no wonder that it has been my favorite holiday since my early days in my Grandmother's kitchen on the Lower EastSide of New York.

I wish you all an enlightening Passover Season, & may your journey out of Egypt bring you strength in knowing there will always be a way to overcome whatever your Egypt may be-- "keep the faith" & help one another, for we won't get there alone, & even if we did something would seem amiss, for it can feel very overwhelming in the dessert as it's elemental forces can & have been devastating to those who are not prepared to learn.

My Confucius quote today reads--- "Heaven means to be one with God"

I will always remain hopeful that we all have the ability to be kinder than not, we have nothing to loose.  A most simple yet beautiful song that Jewel composed & sang some years ago will forever remain true--  "Only Kindness Matters".

A Healthy & Happy Holiday Season to you all--  To *All Faiths of your own personal faith based Holiday, for we are of One Heart, the Human Heart.

*Amen*   

On One Of My Daily Walks Having Had Contemplated Having Had Been Between A Rock & A Hard Place-- I Am In Awe Of It's Beauty & Power*

"Go Down Moses"

Some Get Down, Some Fling For Spring!

As My Family Watches The Final Four From Near & Far, I Remember Last Weekend's Travels*

We were up in Syracuse, New York visiting our son to celebrate his recent 26th Birthday, part of the day's events was a walk in the very unique Green Lakes State Park.  In all my years I have never seen liquid quite like this. You be the judge--

Some Things Never Get Easier*--

There's a beauty to joining new groups, as time goes by & one becomes comfortable within themselves in newer settings, the familiarity with the mingling of personalities distill. Seemingly in most human systems there are those invisible/internal lists, those pecking orders, alliances & loyalties.  {Sounds a bit like the modern day "Survivor" TV program.  I'm sure that's a main reason why it has been so successful for so long.} Therefore there should be no surprise to discover from time to time when the exclusion or two takes place.  In this society it is the norm, in other more inclusive societies it is the ab norm.  Our societal norms present at times as--  head games, pecking orders & power plays & no matter how many decades a life is lived it all can become relevant again, like a grade school child, excluded from the list, bringing reminders of one's adolescent time.

If one can hold on to themselves, & hold steady to the ground, that may or may not help.  As people our natural instinct is to belong, why else do we join groups?, & when we don't make the cut is it necessary to allow those old feelings to rise up again?  Probably not.  It's not who does & does not accept us we've often told our kids, for self acceptance is the key.  Once in awhile the key gets rusty, it enters the lock with long ago feelings of resistance, the not fitting in familiar feel raises up.

Stand strong, stand tall, know that your knowing is but another key & this too shall pass.  It is in the stardust of our possibilities that we are meant to dwell, for God is with us & we belong in the beauty of a chaotic universe. 

*Amen*

{My aim is to live a spiritually heartfelt, honest life-  to live as my Rabbi Alan Ullman taught- "my  truth".  On my google home page today is the daily quote from Confucius, it reads: "Forget injuries, never forget kindness." It is an excellent philosophy & to do it, in it's self is a true exercise of love, compassion & peace.  What would the Dali Lama do---  as I too will strive....  baby steps.... 

 

My Father's Birthday In Heaven, My Thoughts On Earth 4/03/09

A Distant Birthday Lesson Learned

Intentions right

Intentions wrong

Square peg

Round hole

God knows why

I sing this song

Round peg 

Square hole

Gazing in beyond the stage

knowing limits, lifetime's maze

Intentions be of what they are

Visits to the famed "Bell Jar"

Knowing that this thread of truth

Keeps the hurt trapped under roof

Yet I know that God's good Grace

Never misses time or place

Keeps me near when I am far

Keeps my constant glowing star

Keeps me focused, heals my ache

This my God it is my place.

*Amen*