How do things grow? Scientifically, of course the growth process of plants and animals and all life can be scientifically explained, but to the everyday eye, life and growth maintains a mystery.  One day a seed is planted in the ground, and then several days later (or longer), something breaks through the earth and begins reaching toward the sun and out across the ground. …

The second chapter of Genesis tells us that after six ‘days’ of creating, God took the seventh day to ‘rest.’  This is the headwater event for the Jewish Sabbath, but as with so many ‘religious’ events and items, down through the history of commemorating the events in liturgy and practice, they take on different meanings and assume sometimes political and social power plays with regards to how they truly function in the world of those who celebrate and commemorate them. …

In the year 2013, I heard a song performed by the songwriter, Sara Bareilles, which captured my heart and spirit the very first time I heard it. The song is about the tremendous Calvary Cemetery in Queens and the connection that we have to all those who have gone before us.…

What appears to some of us in one ‘place’ appears as something quite different to those of us in another ‘place.’ Today, one of the reasons for the variance in appearance has to do with the earth’s tilt being farthest from the sun at its North Pole, and tilted the most towards the sun at its South Pole. …

Have you noticed that when you first meet someone, inevitably either you or the person you are meeting asks the question, “so, where are you from?” or “what do you do?”  This usually becomes an icebreaker of sorts to perhaps find common ground or at least to simply spark a conversation. …