Doing Good Deeds is Spiritual

Helping others is about as spiritual as it gets. Whether lending a hand or ear to a family member or friend, or volunteering to help the homeless or help the environment. It is what connects us to each other and is part of the human continum. Paying it forward as they say. There is always a warm, gratifying experience that the end of such a day.

Is Thanksgiving Especially Spiritual?

Thanksgiving is a unique day in that we have a huge meal with lovely desserts, have American football on TV with some of us actually playing the actual game, and see family we may only see 1-2 times per year. In our family we do go around the table and ask what each of us are thankful for; that is the spiritual moment of the day.

However, I will state that being Jewish allows us to not just think of Thanksgiving as a truly spiritual day. Each week on Shabbat we are thankful for the bread and the wine. We also say the Shehecheyanu at each and every holiday and special event (e.g., a bar mitzvah, wedding, etc.) that to me is especially a spiritual moment each time it happens, for it allows us to recognize the milestones of life that can help us connect to our spirituality.

Therefore, while Thanksgiving is a special moment in the fall, it is just one of many moments through out the year that allows me to feel spiritual.

Grieving Sucks

Thursday morning we suddenly lost our beloved father & grandfather, Danny Gould. If one believed in karma or that sort of thing, Danny would have gone instantly at his desk, playing piano and regaling his friends. He worked, lived and loved perfectly. All who knew him thought him perfect. Yet, despite always doing the right thing, the past year has been horrible for him. After 38 years with Warner Brothers, he lost his job last summer (at age 88, but still!). He's been watching his beloved wife of 59 years turn into someone almost unrecognizable due to Alzheimer's Disease. He's suffered from two strokes (both of which he made just about complete recoveries from). And last week, he suffered a catastrophic brainstem stroke which rendered him unable to swallow.

A nasogastric tube was inserted up his nose and a suction device placed at his bedside so he could try to manage his secretions. It was awful to see this man who loved eating and talking (we called him "The Speecher") unable to eat and barely able to talk. He was clearly uncomfortable, yet, we knew he was fighting hard to make a recovery. The doctors, social workers and his case manager were grim. His outlook for recovery was grim. His future, if he should survive, looked sure to include gastric tubes, a tracheotomy and chronic battles with pneumonia. How could such a loved, talented and rightous man be dealt such horrible cards? Why would he be destined to be today's Biblical version of Job?

While I certainly feel a sense of communtiy and support from my friends and synagogue family, I'm struggling to find spirituality in this whole thing. I wish I could believe that it was part of g-d's plan to end his struggle without additional suffering, but the logical part of me thinks that his death was just a logical consequence of food being aspirated into his lungs when he tried to eat for the last time. I know the whole thing about man not being able to know or comprehend G-d's purpose or plan, but still. Hard to feel spiritual when grieving sucks so much.

God, Me and You, Sitting around a Campfire

Cross posted on Or Am I?

We celebrated Shabbat around a campfire in Old Agoura tonight. 210 of us in a circle, singing, smiling, praising the Holy One.

Is it really Jewish to feel so inspired out in the open? Sitting under the stars? Gathering around a campfire?

Moses was inspired by flames dancing in a bush in the wilderness. Why are we?

A story...

When the most spiritual of rabbis wanted to speak with the Holy One, he would go out to the forest, to a special place known only to him, where he would sing special words to a particular tune, and by doing so, open his conversation with the Holy One.

Over time, his students forgot where exactly in the forest he would go, but they still felt the need to commune with the Holy One. So they would gather somewhere, build a fire, sing those special words to his particular tune, and open their conversation with the Holy One.

Then, their students lost their connection with the words that opened the conversation, but they knew how to build a campfire and how to sing song. So they gathered somewhere, built the fire and sang.

As the generations passed, they forgot to go out into nature. They forgot to build the campfire. They forgot the words. Some even forgot to sing. But still, they yearned. For something inspiring. For a connection to the Eternal.

So at Or Ami, we reignite the spark within, as we sit around a campfire. We sit under the stars, because we recognize that the Holy One is most often felt amidst the wonder of the natural world. And we sing ancient words to new melodies because the music and the experience touches our soul.

Watch the roads! Spirituality Seeking New Blogger on the Web!

I feel a bit like a virgin. Here it is 2010 and this is the first time I have ever created a new post on the internet. (Facebook updates don't count, right?) I'm nervous, leaving this "permanent record" of momentary thoughts that I may no longer agree with in my old, possibly crabby, age. What if I write something, totally sure about my feelings on the topic when I hit "Publish Now" but a second, a week, a month, a lifetime later I change my mind? I can be wishy washy that way. I waffle like that in my spirituality, too. One thing consistently makes me feel most spiritual - being outside. Yeah, I know. Skin cancer. Wrinkles. Age Spots. Do not try this without consulting your physician. But I find that if I get time outside, whether gardening, hiking or just reading a magazine outside, I feel most spiritual. It's like being a part of the universe to feel the breeze and sunshine on my face, to hear the leaves rustling and birds singing, to smell the roses, jasmine and honeysuckle (you can tell what's blooming in my yard right now, can't you?) I never tire of being outside. Just don't ell my dermatologist how spiritual I am. He'll lecture me.