Friday, April 30, 2010

A Breath of Peace

Last night, my friend Randy and I went to experience Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the DAR Constitution Hall in downtown Washington, D.C. Hundreds upon hundreds of people came ready to receive wisdom from the founder of The Art of Living, an international humanitarian organization that preaches world peace through inner peace.

What makes them come? What are they seeking? Did the guru's words inspire them to greater service?

His Holiness led us in meditation for twenty five minutes. I heard nothing. I saw nothing. I was nothing. I wanted nothing.

For twenty-five minutes my silent prayers joined the prayers of the global seated community inside Constitution Hall.

Imagine if the entire world stopped doing and started being still for twenty-five minutes every day!

I must confess that in the space of twenty-five minutes, I breathed in the possibility of peace, my own inner peace.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

The Stage of Uncertainty

The ability to live with uncertainty is the highest form of faith.

According to the theologians, there are two stages of faith. The first stage is from uncertainty to certainty. The second, and most advanced stage, is from certainty to uncertainty.

Friday, April 16, 2010

The Mezuzah: A Connection between Heaven and Earth

I narrated this three minute piece that aired on Sunday, April 11 on WETA's program "Religion and Ethics."

The father in the picture is my colleague and friend, Dr. Misha Kogan, and his son.

If you would like for me to offer a house blessing and a mezuzah hanging, e-mail me at Tamara@RabbiTamaraMiller.com.

For more detailed information: How to Handbook for Jewish Living, by Kerry M. Olitzky and Ronald H. Isaacs

I would love to hear your reflections on how the mezuzah affects your spiritual life.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Build Hope

This past week, I was rearranging my apartment as spring fever tickled my spirit and my sinuses. While sneezing away, I found two newly framed Hadassah certificates.

(Hadassah, the Jewish Women's Zionist Organization of America, is responsible for building two hospitals in Jerusalem that provide medical treatment equally to people of all religions.)

The gold and black certificate wrote BUILD TOMORROW TODAY in bold letters and was acknowledging a donation contributed in memory of my late father,Rabbi Benjamin Miller. The other certificate made in memory of my late mother, Jeanette Miller, had the word HOPE calligraphed in green with a pink background.

Both donations were gifted to me by a man who never met either of my parents. We were joined together by loss. After his beloved wife died of breast cancer, Mr. Raskin created "The Dorrie H. Raskin Breast Cancer Research Fund" in her memory. Now, all three souls are forever guiding me as I look up from my computer and see the words on my office wall.

Who are we without the hope of tomorrow and the foundation of today?

Friday, April 2, 2010

The Things I Wished I Had Said

What do you do with the words unspoken, the feelings unexpressed, and the love not acknowledged?

How can you say the things you wished you had said at the moment of awe and inspiration?

Can you still reveal your true sentiments later?

Practice the art of appreciation in your everyday conversations so when the time comes for you to express your deepest truths, it will drip sweetly from your tongue like honey from the honeycomb without hesitation.