A Soulful Journey

To show a child what once delighted you, to find the child’s delight added to your own – this is happiness.”    -J.B. Priestly A parent's delight is to watch the child take her first steps, then learn how to move gracefully, stand independently.  Yet, perhaps the greatest joy of “ all is when the child  decides to be be just like you.

A Bar Mitzvah boy’s father wanted to get a gift for his son.   So he asked his Hebrew teacher. “Get him an encyclopedia,” he suggested. “Gotenu!” the father exclaimed.   “Let him work like ever other kid!” Have you ever been misunderstood like this?  When it happens, do not laugh.  Just restate what you want to say.  Great hurt can be avoided.

  “To call things by incorrect names is to add to the world’s misery.”    Mal nommer les choses c'est ajouter du malheur au monde.   -Albert Camus Everyone and  everything has a name.  Remember: it was the first thing Adam did in his new surroundings, Eden.  He went about naming everything.  Language is the connection between you and me, between you and the world.  It is important to use the right language, the correct words.  After all, the wrong word at the wrong time can cause great irreparable rifts.  

“Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another.” -Proverbs 27

I am not the fire, not the light, not the flame. I am not the Source But I am given the resource To reflect, to shine, to bring light To dispel the shadow. I become the fire, the light, the flame. I lean toward the Source And life and light leap across To spark, to kindle, to ignite To enlighten the night. I am the fire, the light, the flame. I am one with the Source And given a mission To reflect, to shine, to bring light To burn forever in eternal day. -Rev Ron Nicholas, 2010

“The Torah was given in public for all to see, in the open.   Had it been given in the land of Israel, Israel would have said to the world, you have no share in it. “Therefore the Torah was given in the wilderness, in public, for all to see, in the open.   Everyone who wishes to receive it let them come and receive it.”   -Midrash Rejoice in what you have been given.