When Your Kids Spread Their Wings and Leave the Nest Empty

It's good to let your birds leave the nest

This past year or two I’ve watched my children spread their wings and really begin to fly. In a few cases, they are still flapping them around a bit and wondering if they can really handle a long distance flight, if they’ve got the skill, the endurance, the character. But every day they fly just [...]

Our Obsession with Predictions Keeps Us From Living in the Moment

Groundhog Day 2013

Humans love predictions. Just look at how Americans wait for a groundhog, of all the crazy animals in the world, to predict when spring will arrive. It’s a national holiday. Groundhog Day. Really? In fact, our obsession with predictions really just keeps us from living in the moment and doing what is necessary to create [...]

Do You Cut of Your Nose to Spite Your Face?

smell the roses

Do you remember that old saying, “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face?” I’ve been thinking about it lately. Typically we use it when a person does something spiteful to hurt others that also hurts himself. Yet,  sometimes we don’t even know we are doing this. I see this happening often when we [...]

What’s the Definition of a “Mistake”?

mistake oops

Are mistakes possible? We often say, “I made a mistake.” Yet, most Judeo-Christian religions believe God makes no mistakes. If there are no mistakes, can we even define the word “mistake”? What would the definition be? If God makes no mistakes that means your child with a heart defect was not a mistake, hurricane Sandy [...]

Do You Know What Test You Are Taking in This Lifetime?

taking a test

Last night I watched a documentary called Praying with Lior, about a child with Downs Syndrome who loves to pray. There were many interesting concepts discussed  in this film, such as why a child with Downs Syndrome would be so attracted to prayer. However, it’s easy enough to conclude that for some reason his “condition” [...]

Is Your Faith Like a Potato?

Is your faith strong? Could you faith be stronger?

I write a lot about faith, but it’s a hard topic to discuss–to describe. People who don’t have faith can’t fathom it. Tonight, however, I watched a movie that had a great analogy for faith, albeit an unlikely one: the potato. Although Faith Like Potatoes was a bit too Christian in orientation for my tastes, [...]

Can You Ever Be Prepared For What Life Brings?

Can you ever be prepared for a storm like Sandy?

We spend much of our life trying to prepare for what we think will happen or what we hope will happen or what we want to happen in the future. We make plans. We get training. We pack. We save. We think positive thoughts. We imagine what it will be like. We plot out our [...]

Think Good Thoughts, Do Good Deeds, Create Good Things

When we reach for God, God reaches down to us.

We are often told to watch our thoughts or to change our thoughts so we can create what we want in life. I’ve often written here on this blog that I do, indeed, believe our thoughts are creative. I’ve also said that we can’t just think our way to manifesting what we want. Yes, occasionally, [...]

The Biggest Sin of All: Not Living Up to Your Potential

Have you sinned this year?

As a Jew, I’m now in the midst of Days of Awe, the 10 days between the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah and the Day of Repentance, Yom Kippur. During this time we are supposed to take an accounting of our sins and repent for them. However, I think the biggest sin of all is [...]

Do You Recognize the Blue Moon Events in Your Life?

blue moon nasa

The sky here in Northern California is clear and bright. Tonight, August 31, 2012, I’ll be able to see the blue moon. When two full moons occur in any calendar month, the second is called a blue moon. The term (in its modern usage) has nothing to do with the moon’s color. A blue moon [...]