Dreaming

 "I believe Earth is dreaming us into a new way of seeing, a new way of being, if we will favor our senses and receive what is coming to us through heartbreak and love."  

Terry Tempest Williams, The Glorians    

   

When I read this sentence, I thought of the photograph I took yesterday, September 4. I know some of you saw this photograph on Facebook, so please excuse the duplication.  What came to mind today was, "What if this turkey vulture is dreaming the world into existence?"  Yesterday, I watched it fly away. I had no idea why it flew. I have no doubt it saw something I did not; that it sensed something I cannot yet articulate

Creation is ongoing. Despots and authoritarians have their primitive, punitive, and selfish dreams. Let us remember that we, too, are being called to fly.   

Last night I dreamed of a bighorn sheep standing on a high boulder. I am grateful for the encouragement. Creation is indeed ongoing, and according to author and teacher,  Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley, who is of Cherokee descent, creation is also healing. I am beginning to believe that the destruction and chaos we are experiencing now may prove to be healing. Perhaps that is the message of the turkey vulture who certainly knows that death never has the last word.    

   

My gratitude to Rabbi Yael Levy who recommended The Glorians. I am on page 3.     

       

image:  East Bay Regional Park, September 4, 2026

View from a Window

I  have decided to return to my practice of doing three yoga sun salutations most mornings. I do these in front of either the bedroom or the living room windows. In the middle of each salutation, I do what is called a child's pose. In this pose, I am on the mat curled up into a ball with the top of my head on the mat, arms at my side. In this position (more comfortable than it sounds) I say a spoken prayer of gratitude, and then I move into what is called a Sphinx pose where I am lying prone on the floor with my legs stretched out behind me. My elbows are close to my body and I lift up my upper torso, not with my arms but rather my chest, resting for a few moments on my lower arms. On Monday morning as I lifted my torso, I was greeted with a view of beautiful pink clouds strewn above the Dunsmuir Ridge. I confess that in that moment I did feel rather Sphinx-like as I silently looked out over land and sky before I continued my movements.

We also had a beautiful sunset on Monday. Our view to the west out our kitchen and dining room windows. revealed a red sky that was stunning in its intensity, unfortunately perhaps because of the Timber fire in Monterey County. Our view to the east was also dramatic. A line of pink clouds stretched along the horizon. A bright waxing Gibbous moon shone above.  No, none of our views are entirely clear due to trees and houses in all directions, and certainly the view of Hwy 580 in the east is less than scenic, but over time we have come to love the views we have. Last night the not yet full moon shone brightly, pouring light through our bedroom window. If our sky is clear on the 26th, we should be able to witness the Sturgeon full moon.

I am grateful that I can look up and see the sky, even if we cannot see many stars because of light pollution. I am also grateful for my yoga class. Over time, I have learned to live with my arthritis, and to respect it. Some poses I simply cannot do. So I pause and rest, and practice honoring what my body can, and cannot do. 

Our neighbors across the street and down a couple of houses are having a new roof put on their house. Roofing is noisy, strenuous work. However, one of the roofers whistles beautifully, and I often hear him whistling, despite the sound of hammering. He reminds me of a bird that has alighted at the top of the roof to sing his song. Yesterday, I watched one of the roofers, not a particularly young man, pause for just a few moments before he began to climb the ladder to the roof. Perhaps he was saying a prayer, or maybe he was just focusing his attention, so his steps and balance would be sure.     

      

See wonders.  

Bow to Mystery.  

Act for the benefit of all.   

      

Rabbi Yael Levy,  

Psalms, Ancient Songs for These Times     

       

         image:  Backyard Iris, 2026

Desert Colors

 "May I trust in the Unfolding Mystery and meet it well.

May I dwell in the land and be nourished by its faith." 

Psalm  37:3  Psalms, Ancient Songs for These Times

Rabbi Yael Levy          

     

 Rabbi Yael has published her book of psalms and I am delighted. It is as beautiful a book as I knew it would be. 

   

These times are certainly testing us. Yet, more importantly, they are strengthening us. Let us set our intentions and continue to love. 

      

       

    

     

image:  Red Rock Canyon State Park, Cantil, CA, April 2026  

  

Journeying To the Well

 "What does it take to go down to the well, 

To find the spring, the source, 

To come up and share our offerings? 

And then to go back down to the well again and again, 

Filling our vessels with living waters, 

Sharing our sustenance without hesitation,  

Giving of ourselves with grace and love?" 

Rabbi Yael Levy, meditation on Genesis 24:19, 

Directing the Heart, Weekly Mindfulness 

Teachings and Practices from the Torah    

   

I am trying to exercise some discipline, and work my way again through Rabbi Yael's thoughtful, inspiring book.  My intention is to attend her Monday morning Torah study on Zoom (www.awayin.org). However, she is Pennsylvania, and 11:00 a.m. for her and most of her students is 8:00 a.m. here on the West Coast. Some Mondays, like yesterday when there was a complication with our dog Jack, I fall short. This morning, I am grateful to read this meditation.  

We humans often do fall short, and sometimes we fall long. Yet, grace is always there to help us arise once more with dignity and purpose. We must not take the falling more seriously than the getting up.  

Jesus was born into a practicing Jewish family. We get a glimpse of him at the age of twelve conversing with the rabbis in the temple. I have come to believe that if Christians want to draw closer to Jesus and his teachings, we need to look at his Jewish roots. Because of Jesus, these roots are our roots. This meditation is a reflection about Rebekah who offered water to Isaac's servant and his camels. It could just as easily be a reflection on the story of the Samaritan woman meeting Jesus at the well.  Hopefully, it is also a reflection about you and me. 

      

image: San Leandro, June, 2022

  

SpiritCare Weekly Meditation, December 2, 1021

 Advent Blessings to you all! 

The four weeks of Advent are a blessed reprieve,  especially for those of us who simply cannot spring from Thanksgiving into Christmas with alacrity. I am writing this on Dec. 2, and already two people have told me that their tree is decorated, and gifts have been bought, wrapped, and mailed. I smile. I am simply not that organized. However, in all fairness, nowhere have I read that Advent is a time to brush up on our organizational skills. It is a time to prepare our hearts once more for Christ, and that preparation probably looks different for each one of us.   

Certainly the season of Advent is not mentioned in the Bible (although Mary, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Zachariah were very much living in the spirit of Advent). Sister Joan Chittister in her beautiful book, The Liturgical Year, writes that " the earliest mention of a period of preparation for Christmas did not exist until 490 in Gaul, which is now modern France." Far from France, I grew up in West Texas and I remember asking my mother about Advent. She simply replied, "That is for Catholics." The result of that comment is that Advent has always seemed mysterious to me. My Methodist mother actually gave me a great gift.  At times, we must simply accept there is much that we cannot completely understand. However, one thing I have learned is that Advent is for all of us who are on a journey to make our hearts a dwelling place for God. Truthfully, that is all of us, whether we realize it or not.     

   

I leave you with the first verse of my favorite Advent hymn, People Look East. The music is a traditional French carol. The words were written in 1928 by Eleanor Farjeon.   

  

People look east, 

the time is near 

of the crowning of the year. 

Make your house fair as you are able, 

trim the hearth and set the table. 

People look east: Love the Guest is on the way.        

  

For those of you who are celebrating Chanukah 2021/5782, I leave you with this blessing from Rabbi Yael Levy (awayin.org):  

 

As the story relates: Amid the rubble of the desecrated Temple, a tiny drop of oil was found.

 The drop of oil was lit not knowing what would be -- 

and it burned brighter and longer than anyone thought possible.
Chanukah encourages us to lift up the light, even when so much lies in ruin.
Chanukah calls us to act even as we do not know if our actions will bring the results we long for.
Chanukah declares, do not get stuck in despair. Remember that a small act can bring great blessing.
Chanukah says, act for the sake of the sacred. Act with reverence and love. Miracles abound and so much is possible.
Chanukah Blessings to All.
Rabbi Yael Levy   

   

Holy One, help us to embrace all faiths, all times, and all the ways You show yourself to us.  

In gratitude we pray, 

Amen 

 Love and blessings, to all,   

Rev. Sue Ann 

Yom Kippur

 Yom Kippur began yesterday at sunset.  Last night, we smelled smoke and this morning there is news of a fire in Napa.  While I am grateful that we were able to travel to Mendocino when we did, these devastating fires sadden and frighten us all.  We owe the earth some attention: not to prod into production, but to be allowed to heal.   

I have always appreciated Yom Kippur, a day set aside for prayer, fasting, and atonement.  If possible, let us all fast in some way today, and spend time in prayer for those who hunger and thirst.  For those who have been wronged. For those who have been mistreated. This includes our earth: the air, the land, the sea, all the creatures.  We pray for all creatures fleeing in fear. Let us remember that we are a nation known to turn sacred land into parking lots and shopping malls.  We do have some atoning to do.  

Let us begin.    

   

As we prepare ourselves to stand in the Light of Yom Kippur
We call on the heavens and earth,
We call on the ancestors,
We call on our children’s, children’s children,
And we ask for help.
Help us enter into this Yom Kippur with open and willing hearts.
Help us be present to the beauty and fragility of life.
And help us turn toward love.
May love be upon our hearts, may love lift our spirits, may love guide our hands.
Let us love the world so much that our hearts break open in love
And lights of healing, grace and compassion flow through us to all the world.
 
Shana Tova, Shabbat Shalom.
Blessings to all,
Rabbi Yael    

 Rabbi Yael Levy's meditations have helped me understand at least some of the Jewish traditions, including the tradition of reading Psalm 130 during Yom Kippur.  If you want to learn more, I suggest viewing  awayin.org.  May we always be willing to learn from one another.  We journey together. 

Blessings on your prayers. May you feel God's loving presence sitting with you today. 

Psalm 130 

Out of the depths I call to you, Infinite One.
Please, listen to my voice.
Please, hear my pleas as I humble myself.
If we were only our misdeeds, who could possibly stand?
For with You, Source of All, is forgiveness.
We are in awe.
I place my hope in the Unfolding Mystery.
My entire being hopes.
I wait with openness and hope for the Divine Presence.
My soul yearns for the Presence
Among all those who yearn for the dawn.
Let us wait and hope for the Infinite One,
For with the Infinite One is great love and power to heal.
The One will free us from the burdens and shame of our misdeeds.
Let us look toward to all that will be with hope.  

  

Rabbi Yael Levy

   

photograph:  San Leandro, September 21, 2020    

  

  

Journeying On

I received this post this morning from Rabbi Yael Levy.  I have been on retreat this week with some longtime friends, and much of what we have discussed is letting go and being willing to change so that we can be who God is calling us to be today. These discussions are certainly at the heart of what it is to travel deeper into the third part of our lives. It is a blessing to be with people I love as we explore.  

I am leaving the retreat a day early due to a cold.  Not something I readily do, but what I feel I should do, both for me and certainly those around me.   Tyler has been ill as well and could probably use some company.  The days here have been sunny, but this morning the sky is overcast and the air is cooler.   How I love to be in this place called Villa Maria del Mar and to be in the care of the Sisters of the Holy Names.  I also love that God beckons us in so many ways, through many cultures and traditions, through every bit of life, love, and loss. We journey in the  heart of God.      

Go.
Be willing to leave what you know.
Be willing to leave who you have been.

 Take your strength, your support and what inspires your love.
 Leave behind the expectations that have constricted your life.
 
The way forward is unclear,
But as you take your steps the path will appear.
 
And the goal of this journey?
The reason to leap,
To struggle, to let go, to risk?
The reason to rise and fall
And rise again and again?
 
Is to be a blessing.
 
To discover anew the good that we are.
To discover anew
The shape of our blessings
And the ways the Divine can come through us into the world.
 
Go deep,
Reach high,
Because the ways we live matters,
Not just to us
But to all those who will call us ancestor.
 
The path awaits our willingness.
The world awaits our blessings.
Go.

--Rabbi Yael Levy