Blog Archives

Aging Well: Jewish Perspectives on the Encore Years

12/31/2014

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO AGE WELL IN A SOCIETY THAT WORSHIPS YOUTH?
How does the 2nd half of life call us to act, question, renew and repair?
How can we build community as we age?
Join with other midlife folks for a 6 session series -- study, discussion, reflection and writing --
that I will be co-teaching, along with Rabbi Dayle Friedman, Anndee Hochman & Rabbi Simcha Zevit, beginning Jan 8, Mishkan Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation.
January 8 & 22nd, Feb 12 & 26th, and, March 12 & 26 -- 7 to 9 pm.

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Everything Affects Everything!

12/19/2014

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"Everything affects everything. It's all tied together and the starting place hardly matters: A just and righteous system will have a positive impact on everything we care about, just as an unjust, exploitative system makes everything wrong." Mark Bittman, New York Times, Dec. 14th, “Is It Bad Enough Yet?”

How do we create that just and righteous system?
Personally I am tired of focusing on all that is wrong. I too easily get overwhelmed with the work to do, or a deep sense of despair. That does not get me into action.

Love, hope possibility – they all provide the energy to get me moving.

What is the inspiration that will pull me forward? What is my vision of a world that is possible that will inspire me – and others?

I am inspired…

by the interconnectivity of technology, the internet, twitter (which I don’t yet know how to use!) – all that social media. Having access and information about what is happening all over the world, so that we can support each other with our actions and resources;
that a community’s “connective tissue” is the key determinant in how it survives an extreme weather event – the small local businesses and common spaces where neighbors meet and get to know each other;

by amazing new trends – that half of Scotland’s energy, and much of Germany’s, is now from renewable sources;
by the success of the 300,000 Ogoni people who staged an historic non-violent protest against Shell’s “ecological wars” and forced Shell to pull out of Ogoni territory, in Nigeria;
by a moratorium on fracking approved by the New York State Assembly
that the environmental justice movement and the environmental movements are connecting the dots and bringing diverse people together to call for “System Change, Not Climate Change.”
that many indigenous cultures have managed to safeguard their ways of relating to the world and to each other; and, that these intellectual “seeds” are again being planted and sprouting in the fertile soil of contemporary, inquiring minds

There is so much that is possible, many reasons to be hopeful, and, much work to be done. Whether the work is big or small – it all matters.

Everything affects everything. We are all tied together!

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Read the good news about our world!
YES! Magazine: Powerful Ideas, Practical Actions www.YESMagazine.org
Good News Network an antidote to the barrage of negativity experienced in the mainstream media. www.goodnewsnetwork.org
HuffPost Good News – check out the many links on the bottom of the page! www.huffingtonpost.com/good-news

ALLOW YOURSELF TO BECOME INSPIRED

Share your dreams and visions with your friends. What do you love? What is important to you?
Take a risk and do something “good.” Notice the response and how you feel!

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Aging Well: Jewish Perspectives on the Encore Years

Everything Affects Everything!

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