All that really matters…

The rabbi Hillel was once asked to explain the Torah. “Love they neighbor as thyself,” he said, “all the rest is commentary.”

Nothing could be more urgent right now during our pandemic and global economic crisis.

It’s a time when individual decisions have massive health consequences for other people.

Why should we wear a mask and wash our hands? Because we care for our neighbors.

Why should we donate to food banks, pay our taxes, treat people well who serve us at the checkout counters or deliver our packages? Because we care for our neighbors.

Why is it important that we rise above the petty, messy political distinctions, the enmity and bitterness and blaming of the other side? Because we care for our neighbors. (AND because the other side is made up of our neighbors, it is us.)

Everyone we meet is an opportunity for kindness. Every situation is an opportunity to act for the good of others, the common good of us all. AND that is all that really matters.

Everything else is commentary.

Buy the pants that fit!

I’m fairly certain that I’m not alone in experiencing a weight gain or that I’m the only one still stress-eating chocolate and ice cream right now! Sometimes we pretend that we have to be the same as we were. We create a lot of internal suffering based on the expectations we place on ourselves about […]

a fable about peace…

There is a fable about a king who wanted to experience peace. As he wanted to know what peace looked like, he commissioned two artists to create the perfect picture of peace. The first artist created a beautiful mountain landscape in which gorgeous trees towered over a lake. The lake’s waters were so calm, tranquil […]

I’m ready to lighten up! Are you? I’d love to hear any funnies that you’d like to share. Just leave a comment below the post! I’m at that age where my mind still thinks I’m 29, my humor suggests that I’m 12, while my body mostly keeps asking if I’m sure I’m not dead yet. […]

Monkeys and golf balls…

Do you know this modern day parable? Author Gregory Knox Jones tells the story of a golf course built by the British in India. There was a unique obstacle, though, that caused some problems. For as golfers began to play, the monkeys in the surrounding jungles joined in the fun. They would pick up the […]

Being like water isn’t easy

“Nothing is weaker than water. But when it attacks something hard or resistant, then nothing withstands it, and nothing will alter its way.” from the Tao Te Ching Water is so fine that it’s impossible to grasp a handful of it. We can strike it, yet it doesn’t suffer hurt; stab it, and it is […]

Playing with words…

There’s too much going on! Too much stress! It’s time to play! And since I was an English teacher in a previous lifetime, I choose to play with WORDS. And today I choose “anagrams”. What’s an anagram? It’s a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters in another word or phrase. It’s important to […]

Average or Awesome?

“Average” wasn’t pitched to us in our high school guidance counselor’s office. Do you remember feeling and believing that you could do absolutely anything you set your mind to do? Oh, the places we’d go! We know that “average” in our culture often has a negative connotation. Do we perhaps keep striving to do more […]

What’s life to you?

If you were given a chance to choose your favorite life metaphor, what would it be? Do you agree with Forrest Gump’s mother that life is “a box of chocolates” because “you never know what you’re going to get”? Or do you prefer the phrase from the 1930’s tune that “life is just a bowl […]

Feeling limited?

Blind Paralympian Verity Smith is amazing! She was told at the age of eight that due to a rare genetic disorder, she would soon lose her sight. Having competed on horseback since she was five, her response was unexpected. “It’s okay, my horse can see for me.” In the years since losing her sight, Verity […]