Bonding within Bonding: Our Foundation, 41 Days Omer 5783
Today is forty-one days, which is five weeks and six days of the Omer in the year 5783. יסוד שביסוד, Yesod ShebeYesod. Core of Foundation. I choose to be rooted in my connection to God, community, and family. Remembering that my ego is the least important element within me. Marveling at the growth of the souls around me. Let’s stay rooted together.
Remember Our Listening Tool
I repeat a phrase to my son when we say goodbye in the morning. “Listen to your teacher. Keep your mask on. And have fun.” Today, he replied with three sentences. If I remember correctly, he said “Listen to yourself. Keep your mask on. And remember your Listening Tool.” The Listening Tool is “listening with your ears, eyes, and heart.” It is part of the Tools of Social-Emotional Learning (pdf) that our school emphasizes at morning assemblies.
I really appreciate that reminder from him. Because he totally knows when I am fully listening to him and when I am instructing him without considering him an equal participant in the conversation. He challenges me a lot,. Yet, I’ve also come to realize, he isn’t malicious at all. He is simply testing my boundaries and figuring out how to have control over his world. I accused him of trying to blackmail me and he couldn’t even understand my definition of the word. That made me reframe my thinking about our conversations.
Rooted In Our Lives
We need to be connected beyond ourselves to stay connected to our souls.
Community is vitally important.
Family — chosen or given — is key.
Understanding the values that guide us helps us reframe our space in the world.
No matter what is going on around us, we have the opportunity to remain grounded in Goodness, pursuing Justice, and shaping Peace.
Find Practices To Remember Your Soul
Whether it is holding a crystal,
Or wearing a tallit,
Or keeping a crystal in your pocket while praying in a tallit.
We all need ways to remind ourselves of our souls.
We are all worthy of Love.
We can create the Justice we seek.
We can live into Goodness and Truth.
This is The Way.
Image by Robert Strasser via Pixabay.
The Oakland location of The Raven’s Wing Magical Co-Op is closing this Sunday, May 21. Stop by in Oakland this week, or anytime at their Portland location. Or purchase from their online shop. Explaining why this store is meaningful to me would be a whole other post. There’s room for a broad spectrum of activities within Judaism.