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Good Morning 9-17-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

There is a life insurance ad I hear regularly on the radio. It’s a guy talking about how his father died at the age of 56 of a stroke. The fellow said he was just a boy at the time. He goes on to say that the good news was that his father had life insurance that took care of his mother and, by extension, he and his brother. Then he says words that give me pause every time I hear them. “We are all going to die. You are going to die.” I’m not sure why that line strikes … Continue reading Good Morning 9-17-26

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Good Morning 9-16-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

At this time of year, pretty much every Jew, believer or not, orthodox or reform, shows up in synagogue for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Maybe it’s an insurance thing: “I gotta get in the presence of God since the rest of the year is all mine and I need forgiveness like you can’t even imagine.” Regrettably, for most of these folks, the High Holy Days are more of a cultural obligation than a spiritual experience. That is, of course, unless you want your spiritual experience to be all about groveling because you have so much to be forgiven for. … Continue reading Good Morning 9-16-26

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Good Morning 9-15-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

We refer to it as entitlement. It’s when people seem to be unable to look past themselves and empathize or at least understand someone else’s position. An entitled person thinks it’s okay to play their music on the plane, in the salon, or on the street without the use of headphones. The assumption is that everyone has the same taste in tunes and that’s just not true. In a close tie, are folks who decide to hold a phone call on speaker phone. They don’t have to be shouting into the phone, but it seems people who do this are … Continue reading Good Morning 9-15-26

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Good Morning 9-14-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

In 1959, a white tiger named Mohini arrived in Washington D.C. as a gift to then President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Her name was Mohini and she was the only white tiger in any zoo worldwide at the time. Mohini was placed in an approximately twelve by twelve foot cage where she would pace in circles all day as people came to marvel at this rare sight. This was her life until the late 1960s when it was determined that perhaps Mohini would be more comfortable in a natural environment. Her new enclosure simulated Mohini’s natural habitat as closely as possible. … Continue reading Good Morning 9-14-26

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Good Morning 9-13-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

What can you hold without using your hands or arms, is light as a feather, but the strongest man can’t hold it for long, and is harder to catch the faster you run? If you guessed breathing, you are right. It is what you do all day, every day, even when you are asleep, without even thinking. It is a totally involuntary act that becomes voluntary when you choose and then goes right back to its automated process when you stop thinking about it. Breathing is an amazing gift of God. The average healthy adult can live one to three … Continue reading Good Morning 9-13-26

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Good Morning 9-11-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

Yesterday all the students and teachers at the high school were herded into the auditorium for a history lesson. There isn’t a single student there and possibly one or two teachers who weren’t even born when 9/11 occurred 25 years ago. There are probably another half dozen teachers who were too young to remember the day. Our principal talked about the day and then showed clips of the events — the planes crashing into the towers, the plane that hit the Pentagon, the third, en route to hit the White House, that crashed into a field in Pennsylvania thanks to … Continue reading Good Morning 9-11-26

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Good Morning 9-10-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

During Rosh Hashanah services coming up this Saturday, there are two statements we will make as part of the liturgy. The first is: “This day is the beginning of Your works, a remembrance of the first day.” The second is: “Today is the birth of the world.” If we stop to examine each of these statements, we might find them rather absurd. In the first statement, said essentially as a prayer to God, we are saying that the day of Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of God’s works. Is that true? Wasn’t the beginning of His works thousands, some say … Continue reading Good Morning 9-10-26

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Good Morning 9-9-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

Have you ever watched body cam videos on one of the many “cop” channels on YouTube. It’s an amazing thing to watch tough-talking guys dissolve into tears once they are in handcuffs in the back of a squad car on their way to jail. You can have a lightweight woman put up a terrific fight against the officers with belligerent and foul language, suddenly change her tune from the backseat of the patrol car and repeat, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” to every officer she kicked or spit at. One former cop uses the videos to analyze and critique the … Continue reading Good Morning 9-9-26

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Good Morning 9-8-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

When I was a kid there were a couple of children who would occasionally visit their grandmother across the alley from our house. Their names were Crystal and Owen. I don’t remember much about them except that they weren’t very nice. They would throw rocks at us that they picked up in the gravel alleyway and generally taunt us. I don’t remember how old they were, but my older sister and I were six and four at the time. Four-year-old me had caught wind of the fact that Crystal and Owen were coming for a visit. I wanted to be … Continue reading Good Morning 9-8-26

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Good Morning 9-7-26

I Am My Father's Daughter

My sister shared an interesting video yesterday by a woman whose handle was @findingmelissa. In this video, she explained how your self-talk rewires your brain and your body. She pointed out that both neuroscience and scripture have been saying the same thing for years. That is that the language you use to describe something or what you say to yourself becomes information and instruction to which your mind, your nervous system, and your entire physiology respond. The fact is that God designed human biology so that it would work with our spirituality. There’s even a word for it: psychonuralimunology. Sounds … Continue reading Good Morning 9-7-26