THE CLEAR SOLUTION
By Jodi Taylor Block


One morning I awakened to the wind blowing and crisp air brightening my thoughts.
I had an epiphany! I suddenly realized that there is a clarity and simplicity in life...
If we would only choose to see it, hear it, and feel it.

We seem to complicate everything and make problem-solving even more difficult
than it has to be. The most awful feeling of not finding a solution to a problem is
analogous of standing inthe middle of a road. Somehow if a decision is not made
and you continue to stand there, eventually a truck will hit you from either direction,
so you must move!

Suddenly it came to me: "WHAT YOU WILL DO AND WON'T DO; WHAT YOU CAN
DO AND CAN'T DO." That simple application to any problem that requires an answer
will force you to face the truth and realize that you know the answer. You cannot turn
to another person to solve it for you, just as you know instinctively that no one can
walk your steps nor breatheyour breaths.

It takes great courage to make a decision and live with it, take full responsibility for it.
Many people make decisions based onwhat others think, trying to please them. Then if
it doesn't work out, they quickly blame everyone else for their poor decision-making.
Others simply decide there is no solution.

But there is a solution to eveything...it is simply, "WHAT YOU WILL DO AND WON'T DO;
WHAT YOU CAN DO AND CAN'T DO."

There comes with this epiphany a scary thought as well...once it is clear, and decision-
making is no longer complicated, we can no longer hide behind the muddled and hazy
clutter of the brain, claiming we don't know what to do because we are in such a dilemma.
The truth is always the truth,and it is an Emotional Evolution.

There is a saying, "Opportunity knocks and knocks into infinity," but too often we are so
busy searching frantically in our backyard for a four leaf clover that we never hear the
knocking at our front door.

So stop for a moment in time and let the brisk fresh air awaken you to the wonderment
of life and clarity. Realize that whatever decisions you make on this journey of life, they
are your decisions. WHAT YOU WILL DO AND WON'T DO; WHAT YOU CAN DO AND
CAN'T DO. Live with your decisions holding your head high, being brave and believing
in yourself!

--Jodi Taylor Block

 

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THE FORUM---a space for inspiration

    JUST HOW PRECIOUS
    OUR CHILDREN ARE
    by Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark
    Temple Beth Ohr,
    La Mirada
               (Note: 'Simchat Torah' translates as 'Rejoicing
    in the Torah' and typically is celebrated in October,
    marking the completion of the annual cycle of
    weekly Torah readings.)  

             This past Simchat Torah I shared
    two short anecdotes with the congre-
    gation on the subject of how important
    children are as compared to the value
    of the Torah.
            The first story takes place in a nameless
    concentration camp sometime during the
    Holocaust.  Inmates in one barrack began to
    celebrate the holiday, though they did not
    have a Torah scroll with which to dance.  
    Yet they wanted to dance with a Torah scroll.  
    One of the inmates asked the only teen-
    age boy that lived with the older men
    how much he knew of the Torah.  The
    boy answered that he already was preparing
    himself for his Bar Mitzvah before being
    deported to the camp.  “There’s enough
    Torah in you” said the man.  “You will be our
    Torah scroll” and he lifted up the boy and
    held him tenderly over his shoulders as
    though he was a precious Torah scroll.
            The second anecdote also connects
    children and Torah.  The idea suggested by
    the Moroccan custom of celebrating Simchat
    Torah is that our children are as valuable to us
    as the Torah itself.  Just as other Jews (in
    other communities) carry the Torah, Moroccan
    Jews carry their children.  Children are not
    more important that the Torah but children
    are just as important as the Torah.  For without
    our children, the Torah cannot be passed on.  
    Children and Torah must be equally valued.
            And so, on Simchat Torah, as well as the
    rest of the year, we must show our children
    the joy, happiness and celebration that comes
    with being Jewish, and remember that it is
    they who will carry this joy to future
    generations.

    ON THE DEATH OF A FRIEND
    by Mimi Mycroft

    At the birth of my first child, I humbly
    realized how little control I have on
    the path of life. I prepared for my first
    chile as if I could make it all occur ex-
    actly as it was in my dreams. It didn't
    turn out that way and neither did the
    four subsequent births. Age does
    have perks, and the most important
    is the wisdom that comes with life...
    experiences, less than perfect events,
    which can teach us all we ever really
    need to learn. I call this "solid wisdom."

    The path of life is a journey whereon
    we encounter relationships that are
    deliberately arranged by the Holy Spirit.  
    The interesting piece of this journey is
    the people that turn onto that path and
    end up in our “lane”.  It seems a cliché’
    to say, “Every person walks with us for
    a specific reason,” but it is so true.  I
    believe that the mystery of how wisdom
    comes unfolds as we interact with one
    another.  Relationships are timed.  They
    vary in intensity and longevity but they
    faithfully provide incentive for a purpose.  
    They are an assignment and assignments
    are opportunities to be teachers of God.  
    These are hand picked for the purpose
    of discovering something meant just for
    those on that path. Solid wisdom is also
    known as the deliberate work of the Holy
    Spirit.

    I was very close to a man for the dura-
    tion of one year who I rarely spoke to
    the ten years prior. I would never have
    guessed that he and I would become
    such dear friends. For that year, I gather-
    ed with two other friends, Jaime and Dan
    and the three of us prayed together with
    Stephen every Friday no matter what was
    happening or where Stephen was. Often
    we prayed in hospitals.  It was a time of
    grace, sharing, healing and miracles but
    not of man’s knowing.  This was spiritual
    depth that one cannot quite explain...

    When the assignment was over, we all
    moved on. I rarely see Jaime and Dan.
    This assignment bound us and when it
    was finished, we really had little else to
    share except our experience of growing
    in “solid wisdom.”