Elijah is Coming to Town

 This Shabbat, the last one before the holiday of Passover, is known as Shabbat ha-Gadol, the Great Sabbath.  This Shabbat has a special haftarah, the reading from the Prophets which follows the Torah reading.  On Shabbat ha-Gadol, we read from  Malachi, the last of the prophetic books (in the Hebrew Bible; the Christian Testament orders the books differently).  The haftarah portion is Malachi 3:4-24, the last verses of the (rather short) book..  The prophet tells of the end times, of a Judgment Day when God will judge the righteous and the wicked.  The portion ends with these words, "Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Lord.  He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with destruction.

It seems to tell us that one of the the things that will keep God's wrath at bay is when parents and children are reconciled with each other, and get along.  All of us with families know that this is not always the easiest thing to accomplish; perhaps that is why God leaves the task to one of the greatest prophets.  As we gather with our families on this Passover, and pour a cup of wine for Elijah, let us reflect on the importance of loving and respecting one another, and doing our part in helping Elijah do his job.

You Can Say That Again!

That Was A Narrow Escape!

On the way in from the parking lot this morning, the lady walking ahead of me sped up, so I did, too. She began running, so I ran, too. She screamed, so I started screaming, too. I never did see what was chasing us, but I'm sure glad we got inside the building safely.

My Morning Commute

My morning commute became a little easier this morning when I found myself in back of this 1954 Bentley R type.  There he was driving from the right side of the car.  He had to stop at a stop light and get out to adjust his rear view mirror which was on the right front fender.  Of course, he got back in and drove away.  Not very many of these cars were produced -- less than five hundred.  One of the Rockefellers owned one.  So what do you suppose this driver and this car were doing in Pomona, California?  Life is full of mysteries and this will remain one of them.

Mary Walker Baron lives in her head. Where do you live?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-walker-baron/shift-perspective_b_2756854.html

Those amazing computers we call our brains constantly interpret data, and the data interpreted is nothing more than the events of our lives. What happens to us during the days of our lives -- expired parking meters, missed telephone calls, beautiful sunsets, and unexpected kindnesses from friends -- are data from which we derive meaning.

From that data we write love songs and tragic plays and movies over which we weep. From that data we derive meanings that guide our life decisions and motivate us to excel to amazing heights or give up in despair.
We create in our minds the meanings we give the events of our lives. We are in charge of what we make of situations.
Take for example a simple greeting. I say hello to a coworker. The coworker does not respond and, in fact, walks right past me. That ignored greeting is an event, which enters my brain as data. What I do with that data is up to me because, like it or not, I am in charge of my thoughts. I can choose to interpret that event as, "Wow! My colleague must be really preoccupied. I will repeat my greeting later when he (she) is not so busy." Or I can interpret that event as, "Wow! What an unfriendly person. Going forward I won't speak to him (her), either."
My emotional reaction and even my behavior will depend on which data interpretation I choose. It's up to me.
For reasons I have yet to grasp, we are far more comfortable interpreting the data of our lives negatively. It is easier to assume that someone has been unkind to us than to assume their actions were motivated by decency, even though those negative interpretations leave us feeling bereft or angry.
And yet we choose our interpretations. We choose to feel sad or happy or angry or blessed.
We can also choose to change our "knee-jerk" interpretations of the data of our lives. Before we can do that, though, we must develop an awareness of those "knee-jerk" reactions and how they impact our moods and our behaviors. If I decide that my coworker has deliberately ignored me, I will doubtless feel some level of resentment and I might even behave in a manner I will later regret. I might give him (her) the proverbial "piece of my mind," which historically and generally involves foul language and raised voices. Forcing myself to decide that the same coworker was merely preoccupied or busy will guide my mood and behavior in a completely different direction.
All of this cognitive restructuring requires that I take a close look at my thoughts to see if they are accurate or distorted. This type of restructuring also requires my willingness to change those distorted thoughts and the acknowledgment that I can make those changes.
Life happens. How we react to those life happenings is up to us. How we interpret the events of our lives is in our control even if the events themselves seem and in fact are all too often completely out of our control.
Realizing that we choose the way in which we interpret the day-to-day data of our lives is an amazingly powerful method of regaining our sense of control over all that befalls us. I can't possibly control what happens to me. I can, however, control the manner in which I react to those events and with that awareness I may even claim a certain modicum of inner peace. It's worth a try, at least.

Be Kind To Our Language, Please

Apparently one day in the not too recent past was set aside as Good Grammar Day or something along those lines.  I'm sorry.  I think it would take a lot longer than a day to revive good grammar.  Our poor language is being ripped apart word by word by letter by letter constantly.  Soon, I fear, we will be capable of nothing more than incoherent grunts which we will somehow call communication.
Here's my most recent grammatical horror.
Your welcome.
A college professor said that to me in an email.  Of course, if the welcome belongs to me then, my bad, she was correct.  However, a quick personal inventory indicated that I currently own no welcomes.
What happened to either "you are" or "you're"?
And that's just one of the many grammatical miseries over which I feel so hopelessly sad.
I love our language. 
I propose a national save the English language campaign.
Wanna join me?

Romeo the Cat Makes It To The Huffington Post

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-walker-baron/animal-shelter_b_2803807.html

Yep. That's the happy ending to today's cat story. When a neighbor became unexpectedly too ill to remain in her own home, family willingly and lovingly moved her to their home. The glitch? The family dogs hate cats. Not wanting Romeo the cat to find out exactly how much the dogs hated cats, the neighbor asked us to feed Romeo while she worked things out. Working things out turned out to be impossible as the now-former neighbor's health went from crisis to crisis. While she appears stable right now, she is not able to even consider how to find a loving home for Romeo the cat. "Will you please take Romeo to a shelter?" she asked, clearly distraught by this turn of events.
So off we went one recent morning with Romeo the cat to the local humane society. This was not an easy trip for any of us, though Romeo appeared to settle down quicker than did we.
Things changed completely when we got to the shelter. Up until we walked into it, I thought we were marching Romeo to some terrible end. Not the case. We came to find out the Glendale (California) Humane Society's shelter never euthanizes an animal. Two little dogs were helping out behind the counter, so it does appear that all able-bodied "guests" are expected to pull their own weight, which, in the case of those two little dogs, isn't necessarily much. And the humans at the shelter, in addition to loving dogs, love cats. They even have volunteers who come in and read to the cats. Romeo is hoping for an evening of Shakespeare but said he will be happy with just about anything as long as it's not a Lilian Jackson Braun cat mystery. As desperate as Romeo was earlier this day, he said that would just be asking too much.
According to an abstract of the American Pet Products Association's 2011-2012 National Pet Owners Survey, "the number of U.S. households owning a pet has increased by 2.1 percent to an all time high of 72.9 million. In total, there are approximately 78 million dogs [and] 86.4 million cats." And according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), "Approximately 5 million to 7 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year."
As it works out, Romeo the cat is pretty lucky. His former human companion, though weak and ill and displaced, was able to contact willing neighbors and ask for help. She did not simply abandon him to fend for himself. And luckily for him, Romeo did wind up in a "no kill" shelter. Also, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, "approximately 3 million to 4 million are (dogs and cats) euthanized each year."
Okay. We get that life happens. Pet owners become ill and, yes, sometimes die. Hopefully arrangements have been made before such crises occur. We also get that life happens in other ways, such as natural disaster or unemployment or relocation to faraway lands. Few circumstances, though, warrant irresponsibility or cruelty to our pets.
In the words of the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "But you mustn't forget it. You become responsible forever for what you've tamed." [1]
We tame our dogs and our cats by inviting them into our lives, by feeding them, by sheltering them and, yes, by loving them. By so doing we become responsible for them -- forever. Let's try not to forget that forever responsibility.
1. The Little Prince, ISBN-13: 9780547978840 - Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Getting Our Ducks In A Row Isn't That Easy

We started this project at the first of the year and so far we haven't enjoyed huge success.  Nevertheless, we continue our goal of finally, once and for all, getting all of our ducks in a row.  We'll keep you posted.

Romeo The Cat Joins A Book Club

Yep.  That's the happy ending to today's cat story.  When a neighbor became unexpectedly too ill to remain in her own home, family willingly and lovingly moved her to their home.  The glitch?  The family dogs hate cats.  Not wanting Romeo the cat to find out exactly how much the dogs hated cats, the neighbor asked us to feed Romeo while she worked things out.  Working things out turned out to be impossible as the now former neighbor's health went from crisis to crisis.  While she appears stable right now, she is not able to even consider how to find a loving home for Romeo the cat.  "Will you please take Romeo to a shelter?" she asked, clearly distraught by this turn of events.
So off we went this morning with Romeo the cat to the Glendale Humane Society's shelter.  This was not an easy trip for any of us though Romeo appeared to settle down quicker than did we.
Things changed completely when we got to the shelter.  Up until we walked into it I thought we were marching Romeo to some terrible end.  Not the case.  Come to find out the Glendale Humane Society's shelter never euthanizes an animal.  Two little dogs were helping out behind the counter so it does appear that all able bodied 'guests' are expected to pull their own weight which, in the case of those two little dogs, isn't necessarily much.  And, they love cats.  They even have volunteers who come in and read to the cats.  Romeo is hoping for an evening of Shakespeare but said he will be happy with just about anything as long as it's not a Lilian Jackson Braun cat mystery.  As desperate as Romeo was earlier this day, he said that would just be asking too much.
We intend to make a contribution to the Glendale Humane Society's shelter.  By the way, it receives no funding from the City of Glendale so if you're looking for a place to give money, this would be a good choice.  We recommend it.  So does Romeo.

http://www.glendalehumane.org/

Second Chances

Parashat Ki Tissa (Ex 30:11 - 34:35) shows us a deeply holy moment.  Alone with God on Mount Sinai, Moses receives the instructions for building the Tabernacle in the wilderness where the Israelites will worship God, and bring their sacrifices.  At the end of the instruction, God gives Moses the two stone tablets of the Law, the Ten Commandments, inscribed by the very finger of God.

As this holy moment transpires, the people Israel are growing restless waiting for Moses to return.  Will they ever see him again?  Moses' brother Aaron asks them to bring him their gold jewelry, and he fashions a golden calf from it.  The Israelites, apparently unmoved by their recent experience with God at Mount Sinai, begin to sing and dance and worship the golden idol they have built.  God reveals to Moses what is going on, and Moses hurries down the mountain.  Although he has been told what to expect, when he sees the Israelites worshiping the calf, he explodes with rage and throws down the sacred tablets in his hand, shattering them at the foot of the mountain.  

The next day, Moses goes back up to the mountain to try to appease God and win forgiveness for the people's sin.  God forgives the people, and allows Moses to carve two tablets of stone like the first, containing all the words that were on the first tablets.  However, this second set is unlike the first, written by the hand of a human rather than the hand of God.

We all have moments of rage, and mostly we regret them later.  Sometimes we do damage in those moments, and sometimes the damage is irreversible.  But sometimes, like Moses with the stone tablets, we get a second chance.  It is said that the holy ark contained both the second set of whole tablets, and the broken shards of the first set.  Perhaps this comes to remind us that even when we are fortunate enough to get a second chance, it is not as if the event that we regret never occurred.