small black bears

My boyfriend left to drive down to North Carolina at 6 this morning, and I fell back asleep to a scary dream where a small black bear + another one wandered through my house, my mom and I creeping carefully away into a vacant room while I worried about Nellie and Tinno's safety. It was no Blueberries for Sal. And then I woke up an hour later alone in the big bed to start my day for real.


ETA:
I've been thinking lately that it helps to recognize that we are part of the Earth that's moving into winter, that we're wintering too not just enduring bleak cold New York days that stretch into steely slushy months. The sky right now is piercing cold blue outside the drawn shades facing south towards the Chrysler building. Last night when I took Critter for a walk, the moon was hanging low and fat in the sky, a sailess hull cutting through the sky.

a creation myth

Lif’nei b’rei’shit. . .before the beginning,
before the faces of time and space appeared,
before there was even a before,
all that was
was endless mystery, ( Ain Sof )

Our lives can be dedicated
to finding the holiness in every thing and every one,
or we can ignore the sacredness of the reality about us.
Within our hands is the power
to enrich the life of the planet,
and within our hands is the power to destroy.
U’va’char’tem ba’chayim:
Choose life that you and your children may live.


The holiness which we seek and which we find,
we call kadosh.
And our dedication to holiness, our work to enrich the planet,
we call the path of mitzvah.


Ha’me’ir la’aretz u’l’darim ah’leh’ha
Each morning you awake to the very fire
that created all the stars.
Each day is an occasion to dedicate yourself
to a vision of oneness, harmony and beauty
worthy of our fiery origin.
Sh’ma Yisrael: HaVaYaH Eloheinu, YHVH Echad.
In our work, in our relationships,
We can shape this fire as it has shaped us,
aware of the awesome energy which has provided it.
Or we can waste this fire, and we can use it for destruction.
Our most important mitzvah is to cherish this fire,
the source of our existence,
the power we can use for transformation,
the power to manifest holiness
in our planet, in our species,
in our society, in our community,
in our family, in myself.


V'ahavtah et Yod Hey Vav Hey
Elo'he'chah b'chol l'vav'echa
u'v'chol naf'sheh'cha u'v'chol m'o'decha,
"And you shall love HaVaYaH your fiery power
with all your heart, with all your life, with all that is yours."
This is the fire of the entire cosmos:
We must not waste it on triviality nor on enmity.
We cherish HaVaYaH by standing in awe,
by acting with reverence,
by developing conscience as we use it,
by offering our gratitude.
We have the power to forge cosmic fire.
What can compare with such a destiny?

(by Rabbi Burt Jacobson, found it here)