A Soulful Journey

 “It’s natural to trade with joy, you know.  “I couldn’t contain my joy.”  It’s a wonderful expression.  I couldn’t contain it; I had to say something about it.  You go to a football game and somebody make a marvelous run or something, and you say, “My God, I did you see that?”  And you sal the fellow on the back beside you.  “Look at that wonderful thing!”  You have to share joy…. But it’s not so natural to share pain….” Frederick Buechner There are two sides to not sharing our anguish.  One of them its that it avoids confronting the truth, our truth. The other is that we never truly reveal ourselves to others when pain is such a large component of who we are.

                                Balance   Everything is delicately balanced.  One life supports another.  Tiny fish at once feed upon smaller fish and are fed upon by larger ones.  Like a perfectly calibrated piece of machinery all that exists thrums with predictability.   Night comes to cool the heated earth.  Daylight brings warmth to the fertile ground.  Death makes room for new life.  Everything that exists is in relation to everything else. Is this why God insists that we be good guardians?  Why we have so many commandments to care for one another?  If we do not care for each other the balance will become upset. The Kelmer Maggid was in the midst of delivering a powerful oration.  He shouted out, “Listen. my rich friends! ...

  When we reveal ourselves to our partner and find that this brings healing rather than harm, we make an important discovery – that intimate relationship can provide a sanctuary from the world of façades, a sacred space where we can be ourselves, as we are… This kind of unmasking - speaking our truth, sharing our inner struggles, and revealing our raw edges - is sacred activity, which allows two souls to meet and touch more deeply.     -John Wellwood

“There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord.”   – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel  

In Emile Durkheim’s  Elementary Forms of Religious Life,  he reasons that the initial purpose of religion was not to meet with God but to reach out to others.  Primitive rituals centered around experiences of birth, marriage and death when we all have a great need to share our sadness and joy with one another. “When we feel so terribly alone, singled out by the hand of fate, when we are tempted to crawl off into a dark corner and feel sorry for ourselves, we need to be reminded that we are part of a community, that there are people who care about us and that we are still part of the stream of life.” – quoted from When Bad Things Happen to Good People .  We are one community, one extended family.

During the holiday of Pesach, Rabbi Max Artz found himself in the heartland of America.  He was hungry but could not go to a restaurant.  It was Pesach.  But a rabbi lived somewhere in the area.  Artz went and knocked at the door.  No one answered.  No one was at home. He tried the door and it was unlocked so he went in.  Ravenously hungry, he ate one half of a chicken and other food he found in the refrigerator.  After cleaning up, he left a note, "Thank you. Prophet Elijah." Was it a joke?  Could it be that he was the famous prophet?  The answer is yes, depending upon how the note was received.  How would you react?

"Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another, "What! You too?  I thought I was the only one."  -C.S. Lewis It is good to have friends. It is better to share.

The story is told about a rabbi who came home from shule one Shabbat, and his wife asked him: what did you speak about today? He said: I spoke about how the rich should give tsedaka to the poor. She said: how did the sermon go over? He said: I persuaded half the congregation. She said: Really? Which half? He said: the poor. Rabbi Jack Reimer

"There are those who do not inherit yet give.   There are those who inherit and do not give.   There are those who do not inherit and do not give.   There are those who inherit and give." - Baba Kamma These are four types of character.  Which are you?

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.”   - C. Archie Danielson Why?  Intelligence is like a gift.  If it is never unwrapped (used) what good is it? 

 “Happiness is not made by what we own: it is what we share." - Moses Montefiore

Rabbi Akiva teaches: “Love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18) constitutes the greatest principle of the Torah.  Note that the Torah does not say, “Since I was humiliated, let it be just the same for my neighbor, or “Since I was insulted, let my neighbor be insulted as well.”  Rabbi Tanhuma says, “If you choose to behave in such a manner, know well whom you are actually insulting, for “God created humankind in the divine image.” (Genesis 5:1) – Shabbat 156b When we give the best of ourselves, we become the best self.

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.