Let a Smile be ...

Today's bit of wisdom from the Jewish quarter of Beliefnet is as follows:

To smile at your neighbor is more important than to treat him to a drink.- Johanan b. Nappaha, Talmud: Ketubot

As I'm in a particularly smily mood today, it resonated with me. Although I find myself smiling more when the sun is shining, there are other stimuli that work. And receiving good news is one of them.

In that regard, though, one's mindset helps determine what will be deemed to be good news and just how good it will strike one. Another piece of today's wisdom, Buddhist flavored, addresses that point:

Before, this mind went wandering however it pleased, wherever it wanted, by whatever way that it liked. Today I will hold it aptly in check--as one wielding a goad, an elephant in rut.-Dhammapada, 23, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

I've been following a piece of advice I received in a mini-session of spiritual direction at last weekend's retreat on Jewish Spirituality - which is to constantly pray a 'metta' prayer for myself when I don't need to be focusing on something else. I worked up my version of this prayer some years ago and use it on occasion to wellwish someone who happens to pop into my mind:

May ___ be kind and loving; may ___ be peaceful and at ease; may ___ be well; may ___ be happy.

So I've been praying this for myself the past week when walking to the bus stop, to the office, towards home, etc. And I think it really helps my mood, as well as encouraging me to act kindly and lovingly, and to relax, etc.

It's a lovely sunny day today, and I have social plans for this weekend and synagogue work of interest to do. And I'm trying to keep my mind running in peaceful, positive channels. It's a good day. Zeh hayom asah Adonai, nagila v'nis m'cha vo. This is the day God has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.

The Latest Prayers

We had another writing session at shul last Saturday, and here's what came of it:

Prayer for Rain

In the beginning, You made the heavens to separate the waters above from the waters below. Creator of Life, the waters below are drying out. Please open the heavens and send Your life-giving rains on us here below.

Thanksgiving for Rain

Blessed are You, Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, for the rain You are sending to water Your world. The plants thank You; the rivers and lakes thank You; the animals and people thank You. We drink in Your love and give You praise.

Blessings for Great Art

I.

Made in the divine image, we humans are also creators. Thank You, Maker of the Universe, for the work of creation that I'm experiencing now. The artist has brought such beauty into the world that I think of You and give praise.

II.

Wow, God. There's a lump in my throat, the hairs on my skin are standing on end. This is so great that I have to think that You had something to do with it.

Meditation after Natural Disasters

Nature has burst her bounds, spreading devastation and death. Innocence and peace are shattered.

Oceans are supposed to stay beyond the shores; the earth is supposed to be still. We cast around for explanations, for blame. But it is beyond us.

"Where were you," God asked Job, "when I laid the earth's foundations?" We weren't there; we don't know why this happened. We can only provide whatever help we can and pray that others do too.

Prayer on Recovery from Mental Illness

I know better than to claim that I'm cured. Victory over this enemy, with whom I often collaborate, is probably not final. But I am better today than I've been in some time, and I know what I can do if it starts getting bad again, and for this I thank God.

A Reading on Loneliness and Community

For you who are standing alone in the crowded room, you who don't know how to talk with the people next to you in the pew, you who cannot find within yourself Sabbath joy or a sense of belonging: you are not alone. Many around you share these feelings, this sense of isolation and powerlessness. Even in feeling alone, you are not alone.

God said, "It is not good for people to be alone." And so we are driven to find partners, to find community. Here at Sha'ar Zahav, we are a community, formed to provide a home for those who were rejected by other communities because of our sexual orientation. Sha'ar Zahav is our home, whether we feel at home or not. Sha'ar Zahav is our family and community. Here are the hands that help us, the arms that embrace us, those who call us family.

Another Bunch of Prayers

I managed to attend all the writing portions of last Saturday's siddur-writing session, and here's what I produced:

On Hearing a Siren

A siren cries its note of terror--something's burning, someone is hurt, a tragedy has occurred. Please let the ambulance or fire engine and all who are aboard it travel fast and safe. May the team act with courage, wisdom, and kindness. And may the people who are in danger be rescued and healed.

Reading for after Lighting Shabbat Candles

In the beginning, God said, "Let there be light," and it was so. We, made in the divine image, also have the power to make light. When we kindle the Sabbath lights, we build Your sanctuary in time. May we enter it with joy and leave it tomorrow in peace.

A Praise for Safe Driving

That was a close one, God. I really didn't want to hurt anyone or be hurt in a car crash. If someone asks me if I believe in miracles, I have to think about all the crashes that don't happen, and say "yes." Thank You, Designer of the Universe, for keeping cars in their lanes.

Remembrance of Flawed Family

I miss those of my family who have died--grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles. But I miss more what they failed to give me--the secure, wise, nurturing family that I wish I had. Thank You, God, for the gifts that they were able to give me, and for the family I am finding elsewhere to supply what they could not give.

Introduction to Meditation

Here in shul I want to meditate. Do I use my Transcendental Meditation mantra or choose a Hebrew phrase? Shall I think about the weekly portion or just follow my breath? I think that the best form of meditation is the one that I will actually do often enough for it to work. Any way that we structure our thinking calms us down and draws us towards You. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, Adonai, my rock and my redeemer.

A Friendly Universe

I'm reading a book called "Temperament: How Music Became A Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization," by Stuart Isacoff. It's about, I kid you not, how systems of tuning musical instruments became the basis for major struggles in religion, philosophy, science, and economics.

It starts with Isaac Newton and his theory of gravity, which "enabled him to declare the universe a place in which all things embrace each other, even across the vast distances of space."

What a lovely view of things; I can't add anything to that.

Thanksgiving

There's an anonymous saying: Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel.

I like the homespun imagery, and the hint that being thankful for blessings may help them stick around. This is a lot more positive an approach than a piece of Talmud that recently came to my attention, to the effect that one who enjoys something without saying a blessing is like a thief. Although that sentiment also has a point, and may be what some people need to hear.

Anyway, Thanksgiving Day was yesterday, and I enjoyed it at the home of a neighbor and in the company of several friends. We each spoke some during the course of the evening about some major development in our lives in the past year for which we are thankful.

I talked about my Bat Mitzvah and getting involved in the work of the San Francisco Organizing Project. The work has brought me into a community of San Franciscan people of faith of many colors and religions, and has allowed me to meet with my political representatives and participate in the bettering of life for me and my fellow San Franciscans, Californians, and Americans. I'm proud and humbled to be part of this work.

There's sunshine outside, and I'd better get out and enjoy it before the all-too-soon winter sunset.

Blessings on us all, with appropriate gratitude.

Fall Follies

I spent last week at my annual Elderhostel recorder workshop in the Carmel Valley. We didn't get rained on (much), the sun came out (at least part of) most days, and the food was particularly good - especially the whipped cream that was served with most of the desserts.

I drew a sopranino solo in a Handel Concerto Grosso that we played in recorder orchestra, which had a few 'lively' 16th notes. And the conductor asked me to conduct several sectional rehearsals, which was also fun.

I dragged myself out of bed at 7 each day to take a mile and a half walk with some friends that I see only at this workshop, and saw a few birds during the exercise.

The high point of the week was a jam session I had with a newcomer named Doug, playing through the Telemann duets for alto, numbers 5 and 6. I let him set the tempo for most of the movements, and he chose quite sprightly ones, challenging me to some of the fastest and most accurate playing I've done in some time. I even played a high note that requires stopping the end of the recorder against my thigh, which I usually avoid (and sometimes for good reason, since the note won't sound when I'm wearing my usual corduroy pants). This time, I was wearing denim, and it came out just fine. Yay team.

More Siddur Writing

Two versions of Ma'ariv Aravim, a prayer that thanks God for creation:

I see the face of the moon in a sky that's still light -- a little odd, a little special. The moon belongs to night (or night to the moon?), but it's lovely outside its usual setting. I'm moved to praise You, God, Source of blessings, for this beauty. And it's a comfort to know that the moon and sun perform their stately dance at Your direction. They will not collide, and we can enjoy each in its time.

I see the face of the moon in a sky that's still light -- a little odd, a little special. And I think of all the people You have created -- each of us a little odd, a little special. Gay, straight, bi; male, female, or trans -- all of us created in Your image and each of us as necessary as the moon.

A Hashkiveinu prayer, for peace and safety at night:

When I wrap my tallit over my head, I feel protected by Your sheltering presence. Night comes, our loving Parent, and the dangers of darkness -- accidents, gay-bashers, nightmares. Please wrap us in Your shelter of peace and keep us from harm, and we will praise You when we awake.

A prayer about harmful speech:

I don't want to speak words that hurt, or to be hurt by other's words. Please God help our tongues be tender and our skins be thick.

And a meditation about unity for before the Shema:

Each of us is different, each of us is one. Our atoms all knew each other in the old country. Let us find our unity in You.
___________

The class is over, but there may be another opportunity or two to write in a group with Andrew's guidance. I really enjoy the group writing experience, and immediate feedback. Otherwise, I rarely sit down to write unless I have or give myself an assignment.