It's not the first time, and probably won't be the last, that I note that I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. This is, of course, compounded by the fact that I think I share the feeling with almost everyone I know. While everything is relative, I think these are really tough times, and I'm definitely seeking direction.
The other day I came upon the note pictured above. If I remember correctly, it was from a WRN Biennial in 1997. I had just escaped from my first job in Toronto for a few days in the sun with friends and colleagues, and was really a bit low. There was a group exercise where we shared some thoughts and feelings, and afterwards wrote messages for each other. I have no memory if and what I wrote for someone else, but I kept the message I received:
God's lion
You are so strongly and beautifully
who you are
Shine
Roar
Love (not exactly legible but have always read it as this)
Heal
Heal others
May you be blessed
as you find the
Blessing in others.
It comforted me then. As I reread it today, it seems clear to me that I need to refocus. I am thinking so much about all the things that are making me feel bad - physical pain, how the coronavirus may and does affect my life, work problems, the deaths of old family friends (& famous people whose work I appreciate), people behaving badly, governments and their actions. This message reminds me not just to seek, but to FIND the blessing in others. It is certainly there.
Thank you to the author: my colleague and teacher, Rabbi Karyn Kedar.
Shavuatov.
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