Arising Unscathed from the Grave December is full of holidays. The first is Hanukkah, which this year starts on the 18th. It commemorates the success of the Maccabean revolt and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. On the Winter Solstice, there’s Yule, which welcomes the return of the sun. On December 26th, Kwanzaa begins. Started in 1966 to honor the heritage of African Americans with symbols of unity, cooperation, creativity, and faith, the holiday includes seven days of lighting candles. Throughout the month, Christians mark the Sundays of Advent with candlelight to mark the coming of Christmas, the day when they celebrate the birth of their…
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Independence and Interdependence
Independence In 1776, on the 4th of July, the founding fathers of the United States signed the Declaration of Independence. No longer would they tolerate British rule. The land they had taken for themselves and their families would belong to them alone, not to a foreign power. Today, with hot dogs and fireworks, we celebrate that declaration of freedom. It’s ironic. There these men were, up in arms about taxation, about not having a say in laws that affected them, about \trade restrictions that hobbled them, yet they never considered the indigenous people who’d maintained this land for 10,000 years, nor did they think of the slaves that many of…
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Redemption and Resurrection
What Makes It Good? On Good Friday, a patient asked me, “Why do they call it good? Isn’t that the day Jesus died?” I was uncertain. Not about how a day of death and despair might be good. Seeds need darkness to sprout. Without death, there can be no life. When we lose hope, we can find new meaning. The descent into hell makes resurrection possible. Though I said something about that, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He had his own Easter story, his own fall into the pit of illness and agony. He also had his own surfacing. Though not yet a resurrection, he could tell he…
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The New Year and Starting Where We Are
Making the Best of the New Year It’s the new year, and many of us are making resolutions. There’s a lot online about how to best stick with whatever goal you’ve set for yourself this year, and there’s nothing wrong with trying to improve oneself. The paradox is, however, that’s it often easier to change if, instead of pushing ahead with gritted teeth and a relentless determination, if we do so with acceptance and gentleness. Pema Chödrön talks about this in her book Start Where You Are. She suggests we look deeply at who we are and accept ourselves without judgment. Then we can move forward. If we refuse to…
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Fathers and the Divine Within
The Divine Within There are many ways to twist a child’s soul. We can neglect children, hit them, make fun of them, demand perfection from them, expect them to take care of us, deny their pain, discount their emotions, hold them responsible for our feelings, bear grudges against them, insist on obedience rather than kindness, and treat them as possessions instead of seeing them as real, human, divine. A Hindu fable tells of a time when every person was a god. People abused their divinity, however, so Brahma decided he would have to hide their god-ness someplace it could never be found. Yet where could he put this divinity so…
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On Turning and the New Year
Coming Together Around Suffering Few of us will be sorry to see 2020 go. Although some of us have remained financially secure, barely noticing the isolation or natural disasters or political upheaval, for most of us, this year has been filled with loneliness, uncertainty, anger, boredom, and despair. To cope, some people have numbed themselves with substances or other addictions. Protests have turned violent as people feel powerless in the face of repeated assaults. Domestic violence has escalated, as have mental health crises, suicides, and homicides. It has been a year of suffering. Of course, stress is always with us. Suffering is part of life. Indeed, if there were no…
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Christmas: A Miracle or Not?
The Story in Matthew Christmas is coming. On that day, Christians around the world honor the birth of their Savior. In story, film, pageant, painting, and song, they recount the miracle of his birth to a virgin mother. They share the joy of the shepherds and magi when they hear the news. Although embellished over the years to include such niceties as a drummer boy and a babushka, the Christmas story originated in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Let’s look, for instance, at the Gospel of Matthew. The author writes: When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be…
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Hanukkah and Becoming
Hanukkah and Identity You could say Hanukkah is about identity. Most Jewish holidays are. On these special days, Jews around the world tell stories, recite prayers, and play games that have been shared and chanted and enjoyed by their ancestors for thousands of years. The history and heritage that infuse these holy days helps define who is Jewish and who is not. But what does it mean to be a Jew these days? Especially in the United States, many Jews practice a lackadaisical faith, if they practice one at all. I’m reminded of the non-practicing Catholic patient recently told me, “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.” She didn’t have to…
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Gratitude Amidst Oneness
Our Instinct to Survive We humans are born with an instinct to survive. When our lives are threatened, we get anxious and fight back or seek assistance. That’s because we perceive ourselves to be separate individuals. Many of us understand ourselves to be unique and valuable, as well. Even if we believe in a life after death, we tend to want to preserve our individual, unique, and valuable self. A number of religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Pantheism, teach that this belief in an individual self is an illusion. If so, it is an illusion that has a purpose. It keeps us going in the face of hardship and…
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Independence Day: A More Perfect Union
The Founding of Our Nation No matter the scripture, we humans argue about its interpretation. Did God give Jews the right to occupy Israel, as Zionists claim? Does the jihad mentioned in the Quran justify holy wars, or does it refer to an inner, spiritual struggle? How should we, today, understand Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that reads “Slaves obey your masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ”? Reading scripture is supposed to inform our spiritual and religious beliefs, but often our beliefs influence our interpretation of scripture. This is also true when we try to make sense of our nation’s founding documents: the…