A Soulful Journey

A young farmer buys a plot of land that is undeveloped, filled with rocks, in terrible shape. He spends a great deal of time clearing the field, removing the rocks, cultivating the soil. Finally, he is able to plant vegetables and is very proud of the viable farm that he has fashioned out of desolation. In church on Sunday, he invites his minister to come and visit, so proud is he of what he has achieved. The minister drops by later in the afternoon, and is quite impressed. The pastor says: These are the biggest tomatoes I have ever seen! Praise the Lord! And these carrots! The Lord is great! And this corn! The Lord has worked wonders! The farmer comments: Reverend, I wish you had seen this field when the Lord was doing it by himself! Moral: We are shutafim la-Kadosh Barukh Hu bma-aseh Bereishit, God’s partners in creation. But we don’t rely upon miracles  - Rabbi Phil Scheim

“He has trouble feeling his feelings; he may never perceive that he is having feelings at all.   She cannot feel ; she can experience her emotions, all too well, but doesn’t have any idea about how to limit or control them.   Between them, in fact, they contain the qualities one might expect to find in a single healthy functioning individual - i.e., the ability to perceive and experience emotionality and the ability to set reasonable limits upon emotionality in order to keep it within bounds and relatively manageable.”   Maggie Scarf writing in Intimate Partners about how a couple collude and avoid change. Perhaps the most important thing anyone can do is grow and change.   It is essential to life.   Yet, there are times when we become so dependent on our surroundings that if we stay still, we will wither.