My daughter’s take on compassion and empathy. The messages here apply to human and non-human animals alike.
This year, maybe for the first time ever, I attended all of the High Holiday services, singing in the choir at a synagogue in the northern suburbs of Chicago. On Yom Kippur morning, the rabbi’s sermon was about how the Torah is actually a blueprint for how to live a happy Jewish life, if you’re reading carefully; the thing that stuck with me was his emphasis on making time for study, reading and reflection. A week later, at the church where I am a section leader in downtown Chicago, the scripture reading was from the book of Esther. I found myself listening to the reading and the sermon and realizing that actually, I didn’t remember much about the book of Esther. A friend at church described the reading as “the one where they hang some guy at the end.”
…do they really? Where had I been? Had I ever actually…
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Wow! So inciteful and profound. Here here for continued reading, study, contemplation and the wisdom that arises from the journey.
Well said Anne! Thanks for the critically important message to all of us.
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She is quite the thinker! I couldn’t even begin to understand the tradition (I am non-religious) of the Jewish faith or the Old Testament, but it’s great that she is questioning and trying to reconcile her faith with real-life. It took me four decades to break from walking the (not-to-question) path of others. I feel she has some great mentors in her hip pocket. Thanks for sharing, Lisa!
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Thanks for your comment Shannon. Walking our own path is not easy to do, and I applaud (loudly and enthusiastically) when my kids take steps to walk theirs. I appreciate your comment about being a good mentor, and I certainly try to model this. I also think that this generation has more freedom in general to explore and wonder. At times they may look confused or lost, but at least they’re asking themselves the important questions.
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