Preach From Your Struggle

"Preach from your own struggle," said the Baptist minister whom I overheard talking to his colleague outside the School of Theology at Mercer University.

"The Exodus story may not be relevant to the American Indians, and we must recognize the differences in their struggle."

How often do we hear a wisdom note from a stranger as we are passing through the proverbial doorway?

My eleven-year-old granddaughter is taking creative writing during her summer break on the first floor of the School of Theology building.

I know the Exodus story. I am part of the history of that struggle through lineage. But what has been my personal struggle?

"Preach from your own struggle."

I will remember this message when I create my next teaching on the Exodus and beyond.

In Defense of Friendship

She called to say she was having surgery next week. Would I say a prayer for her? Would I come visit? I did not hesitate to comply with her wishes.

We have been friends for over a decade, but what I remember most was her kindness towards me eight years ago. I had been emotionally distraught after charging my next-door, six-foot-two neighbor with assault. I had secured a restraining order, and my court date was imminent.

My friend insisted that she come to the courthouse with me and serve as my attorney.

"But, Risa," I quipped. "You are not an attorney."

"Ah, but I have a briefcase."

The judge accepted Risa’s non-credentials because of her determination to defend me. And defend me she did! The judge ruled against my neighbor and continued the restraining order until three months later, when my neighbor and his wife left our condominium complex unceremoniously.

When I walked into Risa’s room, she smiled, pressing her pain-relieving button.

She admitted her discomfort, but as she spoke her face and body softened beneath my watchful gaze.

Three doctors walked in to explain the surgery’s results and procedures.

I listened and wondered how I was going to defend my friend from further physical and emotional harm. I offered her a sip of water while chanting a prayer for the recovery of her body and spirit. I clicked the pain-relieving button for her so she wouldn’t have to use her energy to do it herself. We blessed each other. We defended our friendship with words of endearment.

A Weekly Intake

As I review my life’s week, I look for the moments and the people who inspired me, moved me, perplexed me, or required my full attention.

Did someone new appear as I traveled along my familiar path who caused me to reevaluate a deep desire or an uncommon thought?


Did I laugh with friends or cry with someone broken-hearted? Did I offer my service without asking for anything in return? Did I smile when I could have frowned? Did I talk to a stranger who looked confused? Did I go out of my comfort zone and still feel comfortable?


At night, did you forgive yourself and one other person for something you did or said that that clogged your soul?


As I review my life’s work, I am at peace if I did all of the above. 

The Chuppah at Sinai

He stood in the doorway observing the commotion of our consonantal climbing.

It was the evening of Shavuot, the remembrance of the Torah revelation at Mt. Sinai. There the covenant was conceived and sealed between God and the myriad of recently freed Hebrew slaves.

Thirty men and women circled and chanted with each other for six hours at the Philadelphia home of our dear rabbinic friends, Phyllis Berman and Arthur Waskow. Our priestess, Rabbi Shefa Gold, devised a betrothal ritual with chuppah, sefer Torah and tallit. We chose a chant that signaled future intentions. Each person stood under the chuppah with our four chosen chuppah holders, singing out loud, in unison, again and again as we inscribed our new desires into our consciousness.

He stood in the doorway observing the final chant with respect and awe.

The chanting subsided at two in the morning and signaled a silence not unlike the silence that descended as Moses had alighted from the mountain carefully carrying the carved commandments. According to the Midrash, no birds chipped, no wind rustled, no sound was audible.

Still, he stood in the doorway, succumbed to the sacred scene.

My head turned, our eyes met and we both knew that we had met before at the foot of Mt. Sinai while awaiting and receiving words of Torah. Here we were again at the precipice of something revelatory. What would it be this time?

Pleasure as Priority

Daily priorities can interfere with our life’s passions and pleasures.

How often have I said “no” to an enjoyable meeting or concert because I told myself that I didn’t have time to “waste"?

Friends come in from out of town, and I hardly have a time slot open: I have booked my

calendar to a frenzy!

What is that all about?

The rushing around is an addiction that harms the spirit. Breathe between your activities and

carve out a holy timeslot for the passions and the pleasures of your life. Then there will be no more missing out on the pleasant priorities of life itself.

Unquenchable Questions

Whenever I have a problem that I need to solve, I give myself the freedom to be with the questions and to hold on to the ambiguities and the inconsistencies that surround my dilemma.  

I begin with questions and continue with more questions until I have exhausted my own curiosity.

Through the questions, an answer rises to my consciousness.

How can it be? How can it not be?

Living Into Your Synchro-Destiny

When we open ourselves up to the world of coincidences, which are really not coincidences, we can move towards a myriad of possibilities in our lives.

Coincidences are clues from the universe that may illuminate our true destiny.

They happen all the time, but are we aware of them or are we afraid of them?

Can we learn to be more in “sync” with our own destiny?

During the week, catch yourself watching the coincidences in your life pass you by.

The puzzle will be revealed as you open yourself to the questions.

Look for all the improbable meetings, encounters, situations, circumstances and ask yourself. Why did this happen? What is the meaning behind this “coincidence"?

Share them with me. I could be the conduit for your new found synchro-destiny.