The Spirit Can Last as Long as We Can Hold Onto It

I had a couple of interesting experiences this week helping my daughter photograph several elderly women. Two she went to by herself, and two I went with her. Each woman radiated joy and interest in what was going on and in life in general. Each woman had gone through plenty of physical problems and because medicine can sometimes help patch us human beings up, they then went on with their lives. There is a saying from Rabbi Hillel who lived about a thousand or more years ago " I walk, I fall down, I get up, meanwhile I keep dancing."

Of course, its not as easy as that.

All of us sink down at times, and depending on what has happened, on how much support we have from friends and family and community, on what our own internal resources are and what our spiritual beliefs are, we eventually get up and go on with our lives at our own timetable. We keep dancing.

Jumping into Cyberspace with two feet!

I made some progress these last few days with starting up , almost, a new web page, and linking it to an already existing web page. Just taking tiny steps. There are a lot of problems with technical issues, but with support, they will iron out. And isn't that the way it is with life in general....rare are the things that get accomplished in a straight line, start to finish!

We must take our time, not rush or be hasty and make even more errors along the way.
We must believe that it will work out properly, that we will learn so much along the way, and that learning is a good path to follow in and of itself.

Stepping into Cyberspace: thoughts on Yesterday.

The main thing is that we spent the time together, two daughters, one daughter's boyfriend, and me, the mother. No matter that none of us could find the restaurant, which was really hard to find, or that we scrambled around looking for parking first, and then tried to find the restaurant.

We were on familiar territory, and finally we dined together, in a casual eatery. Then we went to hear some live music at an open air cafe. I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and we had lots of fun. Despite the gloominess of the day which remained overcast, and despite my allergies, we still all enjoyed it.

I think humans need these kinds of moments, acknowledging who we are, and what place we have in relationships. In our every day world, we flit from one project to another, or one task to another, often multi tasking, not to the betterment of any one task. Still that seems to be a way of life for many of us. Setting aside time for celebration, on a large scale, or on a small scale seems to be important for every human culture on earth.

Mother's Day 2010

It is so interesting that one day a year is picked out and designated for mothers to hear from their loved ones that they are important to them. I have the feeling that if this day was not designated, some children, young or grown up, might never tell their mother that she is important to them. Other children might not say it so much in actual words, but their actions speak for them.

Those of us who have lost our mothers know that they are irreplaceable. Their spirit stays with us, not constantly, but in the background.

When we all get to a certain age, and have children of our own, we know that we put them first in our lives.

When they get to be in their twenties, sometimes they realize this.

I hope all the mothers out there get some enjoyment on this day, and hopefully in the days to come as well.

If it's the case that your children are not around, then my advice is just to relax, and let the day pass. It will.

Stepping into Cyberspace: embracing the spirit

I thought I would start this blog with several excerpts from a newsletter I write.

The Highest Peace

Fady Joudah, a Palestinian American poet, translator, and internist physician, gave a recent lecture that I attended at the Unitarian Church here in Austin. I attended out of curiosity. Being Jewish, I had no real desire to go to see a Palestinian and hear a diatribe against Israel. I did not want to hear about the Middle East situation again. However in this case, Fady was a poet, and a member of Doctors without Borders, as well as a native Austinite. He was as much part of the Middle East as I was part of Israel. If he was an award winning poet, I was willing to listen. And listen I did. Fady grew up the son of Palestinian refugee parents, and now resides and works in Houston. His father added an "O" to their last name of Judah, to distinguish himself from the Jews, and which made him feel uncomfortable. Since growing up in America, Fady has been exposed to many different peoples, including Jews. When pressed by a few questioners in the audience to his take on the Middle East situation, he was both tactful and diplomatic, which really earned high marks in my book. As we all know, this is a complex situation, and it will take years and much work for it to reach a good solution. I came to hear him read his poetry, much of which reflected what he had seen in his stays in the war zones of Africa. At the end, I made it a point to go over to him with the intent to shake his hand. My Jewish star necklace was easy to see, and I told him I was Jewish, but I wanted to shake his hand because I thought he was a good poet, a good doctor and a good person and that there was no reason why a Palestinian American and a Jewish American could not shake hands. He found this acceptable, and we discussed a recent movie called The Lemon Tree that we had both seen, a movie dealing with a Palestinian woman, and a Cabinet member in the Israeli government. Many of the people who saw this movie were shaken by the time they left the theatre. This film portrayed the humanity of the Palestinian widow, as well as the security issues of the Cabinet minister. It was a very good film. When I left the Church, I felt that this had been a memorable and worthwhile experience for me. It didn't change anything in the Middle East; it didn't make any headlines; but still in its own small way, for me it was a definite step forward. My calligraphy print features the Quote: The Highest Peace is the Peace between Opposites...from Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav.