A Soulful Journey

"The main completion of the soul is accomplished when it is able to remain down below even after it has already departed above [after death]. This is the reason why one must leave behind a blessing: either a child or a student, so that one’s Godly awareness can remain down below even after his soul ascends on high." 
 - Rebbe Nachman  

Nathan Strauss, the great philanthropist, once was approached by Rav Kook for a donation.  “Why do you always come to me?” Strauss asked.  “There are so many millionaires in America.” Rav Kook replied, “I will tell you a story.  A prince was once lost in a forest for many hours.  Finally, he came to an inn where he was immediately recognized.  He ordered a light meal of fried eggs. When he finished, the prince asked, “What do I owe you?” The reply, “Twenty-five dollars.” “Why such an exorbitant price?  Is there a shortage of eggs in this area?” “No, there is no shortage of eggs.  We have plenty of eggs.  But there is a shortage of princes.” –Rabbi Abraham Besdin Everyone must carry their share.

“Our idea of God tells us more about us than Him.”  – Thomas Merton , New Seeds of Contemplation What do think of God?

"Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." -Adolf Hitler Always be suspect of someone who professes to speak for God.

It is no picnic getting old.  Infirmities accompany a slowing down of all the things we could once do with alacrity.  Acceptance of aging is an equally difficult task. Charles Dickens once remarked that his grandchildren "are obedient children.  Their infant lives would not be worth five minutes purchase if they called me grandpa.  My name is wenerables to them."    -Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes

Before World War II Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik went to Germany and discussed with another Orthodox rabbi the impending danger facing them and Polish Jewry.   “What do I have in common with those non-religious Polish Jews?” he asked. Soloveitchik’s one word answer, “Hitler.”      -Rabbi Ralph Simon If we do not care for one another who will ace for us?

"In the early stages of your spiritual journey, it may seem that Heaven is rejecting you and spurning all your efforts. Stay on course. Don’t give up. In time, all barriers will disappear." Rebbe Nachman, The Empty Chair

Help me, God, to be strong and determined in serving You; never let me fall. “Do not cast me away from Your Presence; do not take Your spirit of holiness away from me.” Grant me the skill to engage in spiritual ascent… as well as the skill to return to the mundane and serve You through the simple tasks of everyday life. Help me to find You everywhere.   -Rebbe Nachman, The Flame of the Heart

“The mistake we make is to turn upon our past with angry wholesale negation… The way of wisdom is to treat it airily, lightly, wantonly, and in a spirit of poetry; and above all to use its symbols, which are its spiritual essence, giving them a new connotation, a fresh meaning.”  - John Cowper Powys , quoted in The Spirituality of Imperfection It is vital to learn and grow.  Yet, how is this accomplished?  The best kind of learning is from experience.  The best teacher is pain.

Life can be frighteningly serious and if taken too seriously can be unhealthy.   The definition of chutzpah is the child who murders his parents and then pleads leniency in court on the grounds that he is an orphan.

A child of one or two can get around By crawling like a snake on the ground. A ten-year old frolics in glee amid His elders, as among the goats the kid. At twenty years a man’s on pleasure bent; To captivate the girls his whole intent. A man on thirty years is at his height; His looks, black hair, and strength are his delight. When forty comes upon a man he tend To spend his time among his aging friends. He puts his youthful daydreams out of sight, When fifty turns his hair and beard to white. A man becomes obsessed with mortal fears On finding himself arrived at sixty years. From sixty to seventy, groaning with age and gout, He sits among the elderly devout. The eighty-years old man is scarce aware that Time Has caught him in its mighty snare. At ninety years a man lives in a daze; He can’t tell plowing times from harvest days. A hundred-year old man is but a freak; They come to stare at such a queer antique. A corpse is s...