September 22, 2015 by IdealisticRebel

A Holy Day

Today, is the holiest day in the Jewish year. It is a day for assessing oneself and how we are doing living our lives. Adonai gave the ten commandments, but he had other acts in mind that he/she didn’t want people to do. Tonight, begins the high holy day, Yom Kippur. Jews worldwide will be in temple or their homes and they will be honestly looking inside of their hearts and souls.

On Yon Kippur, it is said that the names of those who will live through the New Year will be written into the book of life for another year. Wrong doing or sin, is looked at personally and as a community.

I like this concept that the community can sin as a whole and we all share responsibility. So what kinds of things is he/she talking about?

Assumed the worst in others and the best of ourselves.

Betrayed the trust others have placed in us.

Confused that which is essential with that which is not,

Destroyed ourselves with needless abuses,

Enjoyed the downfall of our adversaries with glee.

Felt superior to others by means of ability, wealth or power.

Given less than our full selves to our community and our world.

Hastened to decry responsibility for our own actions,

Instigated animosity among others,

Junked our world with trash, showing no retard for the environment.

Kindled misplaced passions.

Lied to cover our vanities.

Missed opportunities to better ourselves.

Negated the validity of others in an effort to aggrandize ourselves,

Observed persons in need, and ignored what we saw.

Perverted the blessings of our lives into dangerous obsessions and mere possessions.

Quietly slipped into lived defined by moral decay,

Refused ourselves and other our love.

Seduced ourselves with the lie that “no one is going to get hurt.”

Trivialized the power we represent in God’s Universe.

Unleashed hurtful words.

Valued strangers more than our family and friends.

Wished ill upon others,

Xeroxed in violation of copyright and trademark.

Yielded to temptation.

Zestfully pursued happiness to the exclusion of goodness.

—Rabbi David Greenspoon and Steve Kerbel

A Prayer For Peace

Let us live in peace, God.

Let children live in peace, in homes free from brutality and abuse.

Let them go to school in peace, free from violence and fear.

Let them play in peace, God, in safe parks, in safe neighborhoods; watch over them.

Let husbands and wives love in peace, in marriages free from cruelty.

Let men and women work in peace, with no fears of terror or bloodshed.

Let us travel in peace; protect is, God, in the air, on the seas, along whatever road we take.

Let nations dwell together in peace, without the threat of war hovering over them.

Help us, God. Teach all people of all races and faiths, in all the countries all over the world to believe that the peace that seems so far off is in fact within our reach.

Let us all live in peace, God. And let us say, Amen.

—Rabbi Naomi Levy

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Jewish holy day

November 29, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

Choose Peace

Life is thankfully full of choices for us all to make. I am sure we make hundreds each and every day. Each of us can choose peace or we can choose greed, a desire for money and power, or not to love or care for anyone else in life besides ourselves. This might well be said to be the most important choice we will ever make in our lives. Our choosing to reject war may even save lives. Yes, I realize I am idealistic. I confess, if you hadn’t already guessed. 🙂 There is much on the line, innocent lives, returning soldiers who will never be the same mentally and emotionally. There is also the physical cost of sending our young bright kids off to a war that could be avoided.

“Let us be united,

Let us speak in harmony,

Let our minds apprehend alike.

Common be our prayer,

Common be the end of our assembly,

Common be our resolution,

Common be our deliberations.

Alike be our feelings,

Unified be our hearts,

Common be our intentions,

Perfect be our Unity.”

—–From the Rig Veda of the Hindu path

” Life and death,

a twisted vine sharing a single root.

A water bright green

stretching to top a twisted yellow

only to wither itself

as another green unfolds overhead.

One leaf atop another

yet under the next,

a vibrant tapestry of arcs and falls

all in the act of becoming.

Death is the passing of life.

And life

is the stringing together of so many little passings.

Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro

Use this time for recreation, to look within and see if you are everything you want to be. On this full moon, it is a good time for a little inner tweaking. Blessings to all.

Beaver Moon is a time of preparation for winter and reminder to recreate ourselves. Photo by Barbara Mattio

November 26, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

Imagine Peace

Can you imagine a world without war?

May it be your will Eternal One our God and God of our ancestors that war and bloodshed will cease.
That a treat, wonderful peace will envelope the whole world,
And nation will not lift up sword against nation, and neither shall they learn war any more.
Only will all the inhabitants of the earth become acquainted with and know this tuth:
We do not come into this world for fighting or quarrels, and not for hatred, zealotry, destruction or spilling of blood.
Rather, we have only come into the world to know you God and to praise you forever.

So, please have mercy upon us, and fulfill the promise written Scriptures:

I will grant peace to the land. You shall lie down and none shall be afraid.

I will rid the land of vicious beasts and the sword shall not cross your lands.

Justice will swell up like water, righteousness like a mighty stream.

And all of the earth shall be filled with the knowing of the Eternal One as the water fills the sea.

—A Nineteenth Century Jewish Prayer for Peace

A Sufi Prayer for Peace

Send Thy Peace, O Lord, which is perfect and everlasting; that our souls may radiate peace.

Send Thy Peace, O Lord, that we may think, act, and speak harmoniously.

Send Thy Peace, O Lord, that we may be contented and thankful for Thy bountiful gifts.

Send Thy Peace, O Lord, that amidst our worldly strife we may enjoy Thy bliss.

Send Thy Peace, O Lord, that we may endure all, tolerate all in the thought of Thy grace and mercy.

Send Thy Peace, O Lord, that our lives may become a divine vision, and in Thy light all darkness may vanish.

Send Thy, Peace, O Lord, our Father and Mother, that we Thy children on earth may all unite in one brotherhood.

—Hazrat Inayat Khan

We all, no matter what our spiritual path or religion, we all will benefit from a lasting peace. I encourage all the people in the world who believe in peace to work for it. Stand up, speak out. If you live under a dictator leave the country and contact the United Nations. Remember there are people in every country who love peace and will help. I know that while we have to pray, we also have to work for peace, write about peace, call your government officials, write to your leaders and to your Pastors, Rabbis, Priests, and Sheiks. Ask for peace, tell them why you want peace. Meditate on peace. Begin with peace within yourself and then go on to peace within your community, and then within your country.

We, the extraordinary people who believe and will speak out for peace in our world can and will make a difference. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, or what you believe. Just embrace the concept of peace and we can change Our World.