Sitting in a Shabbat Shacharit service, Rabbi Mordecai Finley suggested that instead of following along with the prayer service, we choose one prayer and sink into that. I chose “Thank You God for guiding us on life’s path.” And I spent the morning wrestling with what it would mean if I believed that theology — that God guides us.

That Shabbat morning, I realized that I was the best version of myself in shul. I wanted to live into that part of myself. I wanted to help other people live into the best version of themselves. In that morning prayer, I came to realize I wanted to attend rabbinical school.

Six years later, I had the courage to begin attending the Academy for Jewish Religion, California. And six years after that, I was ordained. So it was a twelve year odyssey of adulthood that took me from the edges of Jewish inclusion to becoming a spiritual leader.

I came to this calling mid-career and I harbor no ill feelings for people disconnected from spiritual community. I pray we all find the path to connecting with our deepest selves.