A Soulful Journey

"The Window” A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they were having breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. “That laundry is not very clean,” she said, “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang the wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comment.  About a month later the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly, I wonder who taught her.” The husband said, “I got up this morning and washed our windows.” And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look. Before we give any criticism, it might be a good idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves if we are ready to see the good rather than to be looking for something in the person we are about ...

  "We cannot know who first discovered water, but we can be sure it was not the fish."   Santanaya or Einstein Sometimes it is the most obvious things in the world that escapes our attention.  Look around and you might be surprised by what you have missed.

“There’s a Zen story about a sermon of the Buddha in which he simply lifted a flower.  There was only one man who gave him a sign with his eyes that he understood what was said.”   -Joseph Campbell Beauty is not only to beheld but felt.

“Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.” ―  Elizabeth Barrett Browning But you will never see it until you look.

"Some things have to be believed to be seen."  -Ralph Hodgson Trust what you believe.

There once lived a man near Jericho. He was terribly nearsighted. Every day he worked his garden, played with his children and above all adored his wife. The man said his daily prayers with the whole part. Unfortunately, he had to bow close to his prayer book, the siddur, and squint to see flowers. Every day he told his wife so beautiful she was. She had most must lustrous skin, milk white teeth outshining even the flowers in his garden. When someone, a neighbor, pointed out their beautiful orchard he would respond, “What magnificent fruits!” Or if they showed him their livestock, he would say, “What a beautiful animal.” He was called Gullible David. The townsfolk would poke fun of him and sometimes David would hurt deep inside. One day, when David was praying, he put down his siddur and spoke earnestly to God from his heart as tears flowed down his cheeks: “God, give me eyesight so I can discern things far away.   It is all that I desire.” Gullible David then put away h...

Thoughts of Helen Keller They took away what should have been my eyes, But I remembered Milton’s Paradise. They took away what should have been my ears, Beethoven came and wiped away my tears, They took away what should have been my tongue, But I talked to God when I was young. He would not let them take my soul- Possessing that, I still possess the whole! -Unknown Thank God for what is.

The man whispered, "G-d speak to me," and a meadowlark sang but the man did not hear. So the man yelled, "G-d, speak to me!" and the thunder rolled across the sky but the man did not listen. The man looked around and said, "G-d let me see you," and a star shone brightly, but the man did not see. And the man shouted, "G-d, show me a miracle," and a life was born, but the man did not notice. So, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me G-d and let me know you are here!" Whereupon G-d reached down and touched the man.  but the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on."

The Sages taught is that we have internal urges, some of which are good and some are bad. Where do they come from?    How do we know which is which? "The heart and the eye are the two agents which lead to sin."  - Berachot 3b When in doubt close your eyes, dismiss your surroundings and ask, ' Is this what God would want me to do?'

“Can we actually “know” the universe?   My God, it’s hard enough finding your way around in Chinatown.”   - Woody Allen He is right.   It is difficult to navigate street when we are unfamiliar with the territory.   How much more so when we cannot “see” our object?   Yet Chinatown is there, even if we are lost in the middle of it.   So is God.

Az a khazer fort keyn Vilne, zet er nor blote. When a pig travels to Vilna, he sees only mud.   - Yiddish expression It pays to have an open mind for then we see what is real and not only what we are prepared to see.  We may then learn more than we ever conceived.

A human told the sun he had found one place on earth that was eternally dark.   "Nonsense," scoffed the sun.  He searched every place but could not even find a hint of shadow.  -Bennett Cerf We can only see as far as our mind will allow.