Lessons from Meditation - May 28, 2016

Surprise, enrichment, fulfillment, and gratitude are what I feel as I think about the learning that was shared in this morning's Meditation Plus.  Guided by teachings from Rabbi Shefa Gold and Rabbi Kerry Olitzky, our discussion included a wide spectrum of ideas, experiences and reflection.

Rabbi Shefa Gold - Torah Journeys/Behar

Rabbi Kerry Olitzky - MyJewishLearning.com/B'har

With great focus on the land and rules, how does this elevate us spiritually?  How in modern times can we carry out the Shabbat of the earth, the shmita year?

Can reading this help us deepen our spiritual commitment to our weekly Shabbat?  Can it help us look at how we engage with the earth?  Like the earth, can we take a sabbatical to pause from our lives and come back a year later renewed with a new perspective?

For me, this is an opportunity to embrace transition, to feel secure in life's journeys and to understand that change is just that - change. In this past week, I celebrated with colleagues who are taking the next step in their professional career, wished a colleague joy and happiness as she takes the next step into marriage, mourned the death of a dear family friend and shared with friends the many graduations and births announced either on Facebook or by email.   What a week.  Just a microcosm of our community.  Happy, sad, exciting, and all can produce anxiety.  Shabbat and meditation allow us to pause, recalibrate, regain our center and by doing that invigorate our soul, our mind and our relationships to each other and G-d.

While saying goodbye to our colleagues this week, I read "On What-Ifs" Day #176, page 155 from Dr. Erica Brown's "Take Your Soul To Work, 365 Meditations on Every Day Leadership."  She quotes graphic artist Miggs Burroughs, "What if hurting, leaving and ending are just mirror images of healing, arriving and starting?"  I read this line twice.  Could we look at the sadder, more difficult transitions as an opportunity for growth, happiness and new adventures?  I will keep reading this line and try to live it.

Shabbat Shalom.