Imagine my delight when I realized that I have been blogging at Sophia Street for ten years! Now I would like to share that delight with you in a week-long online celebration. Highlights include: Sulam Jewish World Music ensemble concert, January 24. Midweek workshop. Daily blog posts in conversation with other bloggers. Special book giveaways (various…
Category: Wisdom
A Dream of Dad
I dreamed about my late mother. Just a simple dream. I am walking with my mother. But I can’t keep up. So, she is half a block ahead, waiting for me. My late mother is so precious to me. But, when I was young, she was full of grief. And I still carry the scars.…
Wisdom of Green Hair
Words of wisdom, from my late friend Gwen. “You have green hair.” Of course, I’ll explain. Gwen was part of our life in North Carolina. Back then, we lived “in the buckle of the Bible Belt,” as my spouse Charles likes to say. Our neighborhood was built on the old Billy Graham farm. There was…
Kohelet: Life, Politics, Spirit
What is Kohelet (Ecclesiastes)? It’s a work of existential philosophy, about the meaning of life. A political critique, looking realistically at life under monarchy, and how one can safely resist abuses. And a work of spiritual wisdom, teaching about equanimity under stress. Traditionally, Jews read this Biblical book each fall, during the holiday of Sukkot.…
Neighbourhood Tensions Rise
COVID-19 has thrown some of us closer together. But not always for the best. At least, not in my neighbourhood. I live in Vancouver, Canada, in a trendy urban neighbourhood. Here, small one-family homes crowd close together. Old trees and thick hedges surround them. Crows, ravens, woodpeckers, and songbirds fill the landscape. So do racoons,…
From Judgment to Love
Day of Judgment Traditionally, Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment. But in real life, every day is the Day of Judgment. Every day God places a new challenge in our paths. Every day we get to decide how we are going to respond. Every day is the Day of Judgment, but some days are…
Teshuva Builds Community
Social scientists say: People who belong to spiritual communities are happier. Why? More opportunities for connecting. Giving. And learning, through ritual, how to be with others. Including the Ten Days of Teshuvah, a Jewish New Year ritual for healing ruptures between friends and family.
Creative Meditation
A creative meditation. Designed to connect you with the creative resources in your own psyche. It’s based on a creative reading of the Bible’s donkey stories. The typical donkey scene in the Bible stars a human character who isn’t sure where they are going or what they will do when they arrive. But, they saddle…
Forest: Cooperation, Not Competition
How do you see the forest? Is it a site of cooperation? Or competition? There’s just three letters difference between the words. But they are a whole world view apart. It can be weird to read an author with a different world view. They get all the facts right, but organize them oddly. It’s as…
Land: One Indigenous Lens
Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Canada. A good day to share Indigenous teachings. And also to take them to heart. Use them to see differently. That, I hope, is a kind of de-colonizing. So, today, I’ll talk about sustainability. And about the spirituality of land. With a bit of Torah thrown in, too. Recently, I took…