Tonight, I will wine and dine divine inspiration,
I will start with tremendous illumination.
While I had begun to figure out my Judaism in college, Rick had been redeveloping his own Christian faith. I met my wife through this involvement, and now Rick had met his as well.
It’s Purim and everything is upside down the way it’s supposed to be...And it is here that I can let my dad’s present absence in.
Hell no, don't give me your umbrella, or your coat, not your trains that run on schedule or your buses that lurch and groan, not your cars neither and the rules of the road.
I've got me, and that's enough until I get there.
Restore I/Me/Us/We to our natural state.
Remind I/Me/Us/We that all we actually do is vibrate.
My youngest brother always had a spacial place in my heart. I watched him grow through years of yeshiva and then, little by little, as his relationship with Orthodox Judaism shifted and morphed into something that belongs to only him and G-d.
I am eight years old, lying in my parents bed. In another room, my parents are arguing. I drift away feeling this was all my fault. That somehow, I am responsible for the pain and rage around me. That somehow, I have to fix things. That somehow, I am only lovable if I am perfect. It's a heavy, heavy burden to bear. And now I am a mother of four, still bearing this weight.
When I first met the patient I will call "Jacob", he approached me claiming a need for grief counseling. After the second session, it became apparent that there was more to explore than he had led on.
Often, life seems a cold, hard outgrowth of unfeeling nature. Occasionally, I sense something mystical. I'm not sure what I believe, but I sure know what I hope.
I have pictures of my bar mitzvah. There are lots from my wedding. Somewhere, there is even a videotape of my birth that I regret having watched once. We cherish the markers in life that signal our progress and try to capture those moments for the future.