A Soulful Journey

“Unless the Lord watches the city, the watchman watches in vain.” – Chaim Potok , Book of Lights

The newfound knowledge of the universe as distinct, separate, and individual atoms “provided an explanation on life in which, as Laplace later out it, the hypothesis of God was unnecessary.   For the religious, however, it still left room for God since He could be regarded as the Prime Mover who used the cue stick to set the billiard balls in motion, then perhaps retired from the game.” – Alvin Toffler , Third Wave Odd, isn't it? For as long as man has walked the earth he has detested the idea that there could be anything  above   him.

There was a little girl whom as she was leaving the synagogue, turned to her mother and said: “Mommy, the rabbi’s sermon confused me.”   The mother replied, “Oh? Why is that?”    The little girl told her, “Well, he said that God is bigger than we are.   Is that true, Mommy?” “Yes, that’s true honey.” “And he said that God lives in us?” Again the mother answered, “Yes.” “Well,” said the little girl, “If God is bigger than we are and lives in us, wouldn’t God show through ?”   -Rabbi Michael Zedek Answer? When we let Him.

"Verse, whatever else it may or may not be, is itself a system of punctuation."  -T.S. Eliot Understanding and expressing your innermost thoughts is of paramount importance.  Especially if you want to pray.  And it does not matter if your vocabulary or syntax is "off."  Just do it.

"You're too pure.  Every time I have an urge for you I sublimate it by planting a tree in Israel."  - Woody Allen While humorous Allen points to a truth: We celebrate and mourn by building, planting, and renewing the world.  Make it so.  Plant a tree in Israel today!

Professor Richard Rubenstein of Florida State University offered this analogy of our relationship with God: God is the ocean and we are the waves.  In some sense, each wave has its moment in which it is indistinguishable as a different entity.  Nevertheless, no wave is entirely distinct from the ocean which is its essence.  The waves are surface manifestations of the ocean.  Our knowledge of the ocean is largely dependent on the way it manifests itself in the waves.

“ The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. ” - Martin Luther King Jr.

Albert Einstein wrote that, “The supreme task [of scientists] is to arrive at those universal elementary laws from which the cosmos can be built up by pure deduction.   There is no logical path to these laws; only intuition, resting on sympathetic understanding of experience, can reach them…” Be mystified.  Life is more fun that way.

The Pathless Path There is no answer. There never has been an answer. There never will be an answer. That’s the answer.   ~Gertrude Stein