Chanukah 2016

What is your cup of tea? That's an easy question for most of us to answer.  It's chocolate over vanilla, sports above sedan, vacations in Montana instead of Morocco and living room walls in green mist rather than sunflower yellow!  We blissfully travel through life's experiences making observations, forming opinions and casting our personal votes on everything from architecture and anarchy, to the archetypes we identify within the personalities we encounter.

Sometimes the array of conclusions we amass simplifies life.  We don't have to fret over decisions or worry about uncomfortable outcomes.  In fact, we can become so good at carving out views that seeing with fresh eyes not only becomes a thing of the past, we are downright opposed to new ideas that come our way.  Fried caterpillar?  No thanks, I'm good.   Upside down roller coaster?  Not my thing!  Learn the Rachenitsa while at a resort in front of other tourists? Not me -- not my cup of tea!

But there IS a difference between danger and disdain. Have you ever reacted to the prospect of thinking differently or having an experience of something that's outside your realm of normal as though it presented a clear and present threat?  What might happen if we all used these moments and just said:  YES!!

This year we invite you to question the tastes, opinions and ideas you've been collecting.   Ask if your thoughts about people or concepts are those of an open heart and mind, or do you tend to keep yourself locked inside the cell of judgment?  When was the last time you tried something you've been resistant to experience?  Have you recently engaged with people who hold views or have life experiences outside of your own?

In this season of light and in the year that follows, we encourage you travel to somewhere new -- take a different route, not merely geographically but mentally.  May we all light up our lives, and our communities, by looking for the playful opportunities that present themselves when we are willing to seek the cups of tea we've previously been unwilling to taste.

Chanukah 2015

Each of us has an innate ability to pull together the ostensibly unrelated parts of something into one integrated idea:

Look at the fabric artist who sews together plain looking scraps of cloth to form a captivating quilt. Or the mosaic artist who gathers bits of ceramic, glass or other found pieces and fashions a fountain, floor or framed wall piece. Musicians arrange random notes into mesmerizing melodies and rhythms. Those tunes call out to us, insisting we tap our feet and hours later we are still humming a song.  And consider the storyteller, whose unique talent is in the joining of ordinary words, and in so doing, describes scenes or interactions in a way that delights our mind's eye.

Even our greatest leaders or negotiators are conjoiners.  They transcend perspectives that, at first glance, seem disparate and oppositional.  Soon we find ourselves inspired to listen more compassionately, find compromise, and move forward in unity.   Under their guidance, our own transformation can feel miraculous!

Our ancient teachers recognized that the process of 'bringing together' applied to our inner world -- to the exploration of our soul -- calling it Oneness or Yoga. Generations have inherited the opportunity to have a spiritual experience by seeing our world in a more unified way.   The process of bringing together can imbue our lives with purpose and give us great joy.

Where are you drawn to the process of connecting in your life?  Are you a creator? -- a Friday evening florist designing the perfect bouquet with an unexpected mix of flowers or maybe a home chef who balances diverse flavors, colors and textures?  An explorer? -- does your inner philosopher or scientist-self enjoy the synthesis of individual facts into theory as you go about your day? A mindful observer? -- someone who practices uncovering the root idea from which two sides have grown? ?  A healer? --can you listen to another viewpoint and find commonality? Can you make peace by softening the edges of conflict among colleagues or family members?

This year we invite you to consider what you will bring into the months ahead, and more importantly, how you will bring it.  May we all gather together with purpose, kindness and joy, and may we bring those blessings to all we meet.  

Chanukah 2014

There is something magical about a roller coaster ride.  It is an opportunity to feel the perfect blend of fear and exuberance.  That first endless ascent, punctuated by a slow and determined rhythm:  click... click...click...  The knowing that there is no going back, no control, no individual will.  Just surrender.  Whether or not we realize it, the distraction of  life's worries disappears in this place.  All the regrets, the to-do lists, the achievements, the possessions, all of the boundaries we create between one another,  it all becomes irrelevant.   In an instant,  we find ourselves letting go into the sensation of weightlessness and falling, as we are being both hurled toward demise, yet utterly safe.   Our travel is so swift there is no time to think or respond.  We are forced to just experience.  And from our soul the ultimate oxymoron erupts- the scream of delight. 

Could  this be the ultimate in 'being present'?   Do we return again and again to the amusement park because somehow there is a lesson to be learned about the ride that is our life?

Just across the sand we can watch the surfers flow with the ocean, imagining ourselves being so adept at letting go into the dance of each wave.  It is said that the foundation of the entire surfing experience is the ability to operate in the present.   How can we catch ourselves when we fall into the habit of considering  what was, or what's next and in so doing miss out on what's now?  Where can we practice being present? 

Maybe it would be useful to consider what situations perpetually entangle us in an unnecessary web of feelings or analysis and what might inspire us to step away from that pattern.  Where do you find your scream of delight? Perhaps it's time for another trip to the amusement park or to the water's edge. 

As you move through this time of lights and gifts, of ups and downs, of relationship and love, may your heart be softened and may you be ever-awakened to abundance of blessings offered by this and every moment.  

Chanukah 2012

This year’s card invites us to consider the places of fire in our own lives.   Our fires are our passions—those things that inspire intensity deep in the belly of our souls. 

Some of us are ignited by a person such as a child or grandchild .   Or, it could be a humble hobby like carpentry, gardening or collecting buttons.  Maybe an idea such as advocating for social change inspires enthusiasm.   Perhaps imagining the sweet taste of achievement fuels us beyond our normal abilities: conquering the top of a mountain, the end of a long walk or run, or years of accumulation in our attic.

Consider the ability to show up day after day in order to tend to a loved one, offering unconditional affection and support during their final weeks or months.   Is it possible that this too is a quiet ferocity of willpower from the inferno of our personal value system?

What or where are your fires?   Can you sense the heated whimsy of the flames at certain times in your life?   Have you ever stopped and felt amazement about your own flashes of strength, power and determination? 

When we dance in our fires, dedication, devotion and commitment come effortlessly.  When we engage our passion, we can float along in the euphoric suspension of time, freed from the ordinary.  These are the moments when we are not merely breathing life into existence;  we are “blow torching,” baby!

As you blaze your way through the coming months and years, not only are you revealing brilliance in your own life, your inspiration can heat up those who are around you.  Even if you are only occasionally inspired, it is enough.  Remember, we are all watching you and cheering the force of your fire:  behold, a dragon among us!

We dedicate our card to the memory of our favorite dragon, Daniel’s father, Benjamin Schwimmer.  His fire has passed from  this physical world, yet still burns brightly in all the lives he touched.

Chanukah 2011

When someone asks,  “Where is your home,”  what do you imagine?  Do you think of your street address -- the four walls that protect your family and treasures?  If you open your mental door wider and peek inside, you may discover that the essence of home – comfort, familiarity and commonality -- exists in many different ways. 

We find the essence of home in our relationships, through our connections with family, friends and loved ones. A sense of home can arise as we drive the streets of our neighborhood, enter our workspace or sit quietly in the sanctuary where we gather for introspection. We can find home in our perspectives, values and worldview. For some, the ancient sacred writings, a simple walk, or time on the yoga mat grounds us in a spiritual home.

Your feelings are the messengers of your deepest desires. When you attend to those messages, home is where the heart is!  Your body is the home of your soul, that unique spark of the divine that fires our passions and connects us to the beauty within. Home is in our senses: the comforting smell of simmering soup on a rainy day, the familiar songs of a cherished holiday, the exchange of glances that signal a shared knowledge. 

You can find home in the past, the future, or the present.  Your thoughts might be resting in the past, as you review and relive moments that have enchanted or challenged. Maybe you are dwelling in the future, planning and awaiting times to come. Or, like our ancestor Abraham when called upon by the Eternal, you respond, "Hineni, Here I am,” choosing to live with awareness in each moment as it arises.   

Regardless of where you are in any moment, you are the homebuilder of your life through the choices you make.  Perhaps those wistful moments born of a hurried schedule and an endless to–do list are just symptoms of homesickness, reminders to choose differently. In the midst of chaos, how might you nurture those homey places in your life and reconnect to what feels familiar, restful and supportive? 

May this season of giving and blessing find a home in you.  May the light of your offerings be wholehearted and wise, and wherever you are, may the essence of home surround you.

Chanukah 2010

Chanukah 2009: Expect Miracles

Rosh Hashanah 2009

Chanukah 2008

Chanukah 2007: Expect Miracles Series VI

Rosh Hashanah 2007

TEXT:

Blessings for a sweet New Year:

May you create good fortune,

do good deeds,

and hold your heart ever open

to the true riches of life.

L'Shana Tova

TEXT ON BACK OF CARD:

* Without a rich heart, wealth is an ugly beggar. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
* Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances. - Unknown
* It is not the level of prosperity that makes for happiness but the kinship of heart to heart and the way we look at the world. Both attitudes are within our power . . . a man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy, and no one can stop him. - Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
* Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart. -Confucius
* The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. - Helen Keller
* There is a light that shines beyond all things on Earth, beyond us all, beyond the heavens, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the light that shines in our heart. Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7
* Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. -Justice Learned Hand
* I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. -Anne Frank
* For faith is not clinging to a shrine, but an endless pilgrimage of the heart, audacious longing, burning songs, daring thoughts, an impulse overwhelming the heart, usurping the mind – those are all a drive toward serving Him who rings our hearts like a bell -Joshua Abraham Heschel