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Lev/Heart as reflected in the Jewish prayer known as the Shema: home of your intellect, emotions, and discernment and decision-making, integrating body-mind-spirit

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Home, Weekly MeditationsTagged , , , , , ,

There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.
You feel it, don’t you? ― Rumi

We can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion. This, then, is my true religion, my simple faith. In this sense, there is no need for temple or church, for mosque or synagogue, no need for complicated philosophy, doctrine, or dogma. Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple. The doctrine is compassion. Love for others and respect for their rights and dignity, no matter who or what they are: ultimately these are all we need. — Dalai Lama

Sometimes the love of God is 12 inches from being real, the distance from the head to the heart. — David Ivey

In the Bible, however, heart is not a symbol. It isn’t an internal organ in your body either… Heart is your conscience. It’s the status of your deepest feelings. It’s the truth of who you are. — Sarah Fisher

Which brings us all the way back to the Shema. Every day God’s people are called to devote to God their body and mind, their feelings and desires, their future and their failures. This is what it means to Love the lord your God with all your heart. — The Bible Project

Everybody has all three centers (head, heart, moving) in them… It’s only when you have balanced the three centers—kinesthetic moving center, emotional center, and intellectual center—and integrated them that you become conscious. — Cynthia Bourgeault

SONGS about LEV- HEART

SONGS about HEART

There’s a morning when
presence comes over your soul.

You sing like a rooster
in your earth-colored shape.

Your heart hears and,
no longer frantic,
begins to dance.

At that moment,
soul reaches total emptiness.

Your heart becomes Mary,
miraculously pregnant,
and body like a two-day-old
Jesus says wisdom words.

Now the heart, which is the
source of your loving,
turns to universal light,
and the body picks up
the tempo and elegance
of its motion.

Where Shams-i Tabriz walks
the footprints become notations of music
and holes you fall through into space.

~~ Rumi
 

Blessing for a Whole Heart —Jan Richardson
You think if you could just imagine it,that would be a beginning;
that if you could envision what it would look like,
that would be a step toward a heart made whole.
This blessing is for when you cannot imagine.
This is for when it is difficult to dream of what could lie beyond
the fracture, the rupture, the cleaving
through which has come a life you do not recognize as your own.
When all that inhabits you feels foreign,
your heart made strange  and beating
a broken and unfamiliar cadence,
let there come a word of solace,
 a voice that speaks into the shattering,
reminding you that who you are is here,
every shard somehow holding
the whole of you that you cannot see
but is taking shape even now,
piece joining to piece in an ancient,
remembered rhythm that bears you not toward restoration,
not toward return—
as if you could somehow become unchanged—
but steadily deeper into the heart
of the one who has already
dreamed you complete.

Resources:

LEV-HEART REFLECTIONS

The Hebrew word often translated “heart” is the word lev, לב. Although lev is frequently translated as “heart,” it should be rendered “mind.”  This information is actually very important for accurate reading of many Biblical texts. —Berkowitz, MBT Kids

In the Bible the heart is considered the seat of life or strength. Hence, it means mind, soul, spirit, or one’s entire emotional nature and understanding. The heart also is the primary source of such bad behavior as adultery, hatred, lust, mischief, pride, and rebellion as well as such neutral or good behavior as desire, doubt, fear, gladness, love, obedience, and sorrow. The heart is the organ that is said to have the ability to reason, question, meditate, motivate, and think. All of these mental processes in today’s world are normally associated with one’s mind or brain and not the heart (except metaphorically). God or the Lord is described as being able to know, search, enlighten, open, recreate, examine, strengthen, and establish one’s heart — not the mind. One can have a clean, contrite, perfect, pure, or wise heart, but those qualities are not biblically attributed to the mind. —Dr. Lorence G. Collins

“Heart” does not mean the emotions (though it includes our emotions). It refers to our inner orientation, the core of our being. This kind of “heart” is what Jesus was referring to when he told us to store up treasures in heaven instead of on earth, “for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” (Matthew 6:21) This is the “heart” Jesus was worried about when he said “from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy.” (Matthew 15:19) Jesus observed that our heart can get untethered from our actions: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Matthew 15:8) Heart in this sense—the totality of our response—is the concern of the Spiritual Exercises. This is the ancient meaning of “heart” in biblical usage, but we actually retain traces of this meaning in contemporary English. When we say to someone “my heart goes out to you,” we mean something more than a feeling of concern. If said sincerely, it communicates a sense of solidarity with someone. It means more than “I understand” (our intellect). It means more than “I sympathize” (our feelings). It means something like, “I stand with you in this.” It is an expression of a fundamental choice. — David L. Fleming, SJ.

… biblical authors talk about the heart in many other ways that may seem strange to modern readers. That’s because the Israelites had no concept of the brain or any word for it. So they imagined that all of a human’s intellectual activity takes place in the heart. For example, you know with your heart; 5your heart is where you understand and make connections. In the book of Proverbs, wisdom dwells in the heart, and your heart is what you use to discern between truth and error. … So the heart is where you think and make sense of the world, but it does more. In the Bible, the heart is also where you feel emotions. You feel pain in your heart,… You also experience fear in your heart… Your heart can even be depressed.But on the flip-side, your heart is where you experience joy. … So the heart is the generator of physical life and also your intellectual and emotional life, but there’s more. In biblical Hebrew the heart is where you make choices motivated by your desires …Your heart is where your affections are centered; they’re called “the desires of your heart,” and if you really want something, you’ll go after it. …So then, in the Bible, the heart is the center of all parts of human existence.— Bible Project

This teaches us that the heart, that the love that it represents, can thrive, can flourish, only when there is a totality in connection. The Jewish heart, true love, represents a mind-to-mind, face-to-face, eye-to-eye, body-to-body, soul-to-soul connection. —Sara Esther Crispe

The Hebrew word for this part of us is “Levar” or “Lev – לב” for short. Although lev is frequently translated as “heart,” it really could also be translated “mind”. This word does not refer to the organ that pumps blood but rather it has Biblical meaning which most often refers to the control center of our lives. Today we might refer to the mind as the place where decisions are made. In the Bible Lev literally means the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding. It is where we use what we know or understand, where we have thoughts and feelings in order to discern right from wrong. Lev also refers to feelings like joy, sadness, happiness, love. At times we make decisions based on these fleeting parts of us. — Chapel Hill Kids

In Hebrew, the holy language that holds the secret of all creative power, the word “heart” is written לֵב, a lamed (ל) followed by a bet (ב). Rabbi Abraham Abulafia, one of the greatest medieval Kabbalists explained that the word for “heart” in Hebrew, alludes to the physical form of the human heart: two (the numerical value of the letter bet-ב) lamed’s (ל) face-to-face. The Heart Understands Knowledge It is stated in the Midrash (Otiot d’Rabbi Akiva) that the name of the Hebrew letter lamed stands for Lev Meivin Da’at: “the heart that understands knowledge.” The same idea is expressed in the form of the letter lamed (ל), which depicts the aspiration of the heart to ascend to the highest level of consciousness, the understanding of knowledge. Knowledge (da’at) is the power of the soul which forges the connection between man and God, between man and his fellow, and especially between husband and wife… — inner.org

… the mistranslation of Lev as the figurative “heart” is replaced with Mind—the core of our mental reality…

  • a) the non-figurative “lev” never meant the anatomical heart;
  • (b) the figurative use of lev is, first and foremost, as the seat of rational thought, awareness, intent and reflection; and
  • (c) by correcting the mistranslation of lev (replacing the excitable “heart” with the perceptive “mind”) the bible’s fundamental teaching about the soul, prophecy and transformation emerges dazzlingly from the text.

— Ethan Dor-Shav

BODY-MIND-SPIRIT INTEGRATION

Wisdom is a way of knowing that goes beyond one’s mind, one’s rational understanding, and embraces the whole of a person: mind, heart, and body. These three centers must all be working, and working in harmony, as the first prerequisite to the Wisdom way of knowing. —Cynthia Bourgeault 

You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body. — C.S. Lewis

We see in Jesus that a physical life is a spiritual life. — Nadia Bolz-Weber

The secret of health for both mind and body is…live the present moment wisely and earnestly. — Gautama Buddha

All prayer disciplines are somehow trying to get mind, heart, and body to work as one, which entirely changes one’s consciousness. “The concentration of attention in the heart—this is the starting point of  all true prayer,” wrote St.Theophan the Recluse (1815–1894,) a Russian monk, bishop, and mystic. Apart from Love, any other “handler” of your experience, including the rational mind or merely intellectual theology, eventually distorts and destroys the beauty and healing power of Wisdom. — Fr. Richard Rohr

You need the practice of mindfulness to bring your mind back to the body and establish yourself in the moment. If you are fully present, you need only make a step or take a breath in order to enter the kingdom of God. And once you have the kingdom, you don’t need to run after objects of your craving, like power, fame, sensual pleasure, and so on. Peace is possible. Happiness is possible. And this practice is simple enough for everyone to do. — Thich Nhat Hanh

Whether you are sick or well, lovely or irregular, there comes a time when it is vitally important to your spiritual health to drop your clothes, look in the mirror, and say, ‘Here I am. This is the body-like-no-other that my life has shaped. I live here. This is my soul’s address. After you have taken a good look around, you may decide that there is a lot to be thankful for, all things considered.  — Barbara Brown Taylor

The main concept behind the mind-body-spirit connection is that we are all more than just our thoughts. We are also our bodies, our emotions, and our spirituality … all these things combine to give us identity, determine our health, and make us who we are. — Cooper University

What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them. My life depends on ignoring all touted distinctions between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul. What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world. ― Barbara Brown Taylor

Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that called Body is a portion of Soul discerned by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age. — William Blake

Our ‘ministry’ is Word and Sacrament —everything else flows from that. We see a need, we fill it. We f*** up, we say sorry. We ask for grace and prayers when we need them (a lot). Jesus shows up for us through each other. We eat, we pray, we sing, we fall, we get up, repeat. Not that complicated. ― Nadia Bolz-Weber

Brene Brown’s 10 Guideposts for Wholehearted Living are as follows:

  1. Cultivating Authenticity and Letting Go of What Other People Think
  2. Cultivating Self-Compassion and Letting Go of Perfectionism
  3. Cultivating Your Resilient Spirit, Letting Go of Numbing and Powerlessness
  4. Cultivating Gratitude and Joy, Letting go of Scarcity and Fear of the Dark
  5. Cultivating Intuition and Trusting Faith, Letting Go of the Need for Certainty
  6. Cultivating Creativity and Letting Go of Comparison
  7. Cultivating Play and Rest, Letting Go of Exhaustion as a Status Symbol and Productivity as Self-Worth
  8. Cultivating Calm and Stillness and Letting Go of Anxiety as a Lifestyle
  9. Cultivating Meaningful Work, Letting Go of Self-Doubt and Supposed-To
  10. Cultivating Laughter, Song, and Dance. And Letting Go of Cool and Always in Control

Each guidepost is like a coin with two sides. On one side, it shares what to cultivate. And on the other, it instructs what to let go of. The two work hand-in-hand.

More info: https://mindfulambition.net/wholehearted-living/

At JCC & around town: Sept 27-Oct 3

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Adult, Calendar, Home, Music, Worship, YouthTagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
This week: Yoga, fitness, music around Jackson, C3 Cockails & Christian Conversation, Mountaintop Music concerts, pumpkin people creating & installing, outdoor pet blessing, choir, worship, and more!

MON, SEPT 27 – SUN, OCT 3

ONGOING

  • Community Event: GEOCACHING (Upper Saco Valley Land Trust program)
    Sept 20-Oct 1 • Dundee Forest
    Explore the Bartlett Tract of the Dundee Community Forest project while seeking geocaches throughout the forest rich with biodiversity and pristine streams. Enjoy the exploration on your own, with friends, and with family members while appreciating the protection of rare natural ecosystems. Be one of the first to find hidden geocaches and win a prize! Email info@usvlt.org for the clues!

MON, Sept 27

  • PUMPKIN PEOPLE PREP
    6-8pm • JCC
    Youth and adult chaperones finish preparing pumpkin people characters for display outside JCC.

TUE, Sept 28

  • CLERGY LUNCH (zoom)
    12:30pm • Zoom
    Lunch with clergy gathers for collegial support. Rev Gail attends.

WED, Sept 29

  • CLASS: FITNESS with LAURIE McALEER
    9am • JCC
    Join us for a free gentle fitness class.
  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    2-5pm • Jackson Library
  • Community Event: FLOW & ALIGN YOGA with Anjali Rose
    5pm • Zoom. (Zoom Pre-registration link)
    Class sponsored by the Friends of the Whitney Center. We will explore the body, mind and soul with mindful movement. These yoga classes are intentionally created with sequences to instill strength, flexibility and mobility. This fun and community oriented class is for all ages and abilities. Simply bring a mat, strap, block and blanket.
  • Community Event: WHITE MOUNTAIN CEILI BAND
    5:30 – 9pm • Wildcat Tavern Dinner reservations required: 800-228-4245 or 603-383-4245.
    The musicians will play on the porch of the Igloo a safe distance from guests and vice versa. Join Michael Levine (guitar), Dexter Harding (tenor banjo), Siena Kaplan-Thompson (fiddle) & Fiona Howell (flute) for traditional Irish Session music. Stomp your feet, clap your hands, and dance a little jig as these accomplished musicians play centuries old tunes. For more information on the White Mountain Ceili Band visit: whitemountainceiliband.com

THURS, Sept 30

  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    10am-7pm • Jackson Library
    • Return to full hours of Tu&Th 10-7, W&F 2-5, Sa 10-2. We will continue to close on Sunday for the time being.
    • Masks and distance will be strictly required while in the building. If you’re unable to mask, you can still take advantage of our pickup or delivery service – simply let us know what you need.
    • One family at a time in the kids room.
    • Bathrooms and meeting room remain closed.
    • Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • Community Service: WAY STATION SHIFT
    1pm • Food pickup
    2:30pm • Curbside package preparation
    5pm • Shift at curbside with guests @ 15 Grove St, North Conway, NH
    Rev Gail and JCC volunteers serve this weekly outreach to local homeless and housing-insecure residents.

FRI, Oct 1

  • Community Event: FIRST FRIDAY MUSIC (Mountaintop Music program)
    Noon • Majestic Theater, Center Conway
    Young Mainer Sara Demos has always had her hands in the arts, from photography and drawing to theater and music. Electronic music had always been her favorite genre, and she dove into the world of electronic music production two years ago. Most recently, she’s moved on to mixing music, commonly known as DJ-ing. Her debut set will be a compilation of hip-hop, trap and phonk, bringing you some eerie and fun vibes for the month of October. More info: https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php
  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    2-5pm • Jackson Library
    • Return to full hours of Tu&Th 10-7, W&F 2-5, Sa 10-2. We will continue to close on Sunday for the time being.
    • Masks and distance will be strictly required while in the building. If you’re unable to mask, you can still take advantage of our pickup or delivery service – simply let us know what you need.
    • One family at a time in the kids room.
    • Bathrooms and meeting room remain closed.
    • Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • Community Event: WAY STATION HOUSING TASK FORCE
    Afternoon • Northern NH tour of emergency housing
    Rev Gail and members of housing task force participate in tours of existing facilities to investigate potential housing options for local area.
  • C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONS
    5pm • Zoom link required.
    Or call on touch-tone phone:  929.436.2866, Meeting ID: 830 2844 2916
    Gather virtually to discuss scripture and explore art images associated with the text.
  • PUMPKIN PEOPLE PREP
    6-8pm • JCC
    Youth and adult chaperones finish preparing pumpkin people characters for display outside JCC.
  • Community Event: SHABBAT SERVICE
    6pm • In-Person @ Bethlehem Hebrew Congregation Sanctuary & Via Zoom
    To join us on Zoom, please register here: bhcsynagogue1920@gmail.com
  • Community Event: MUSIC at SHANNON DOOR
    Evening • Shannon Door

SAT, Oct 2

  • PUMPKIN PEOPLE INSTALLATION
    TBD • JCC
    Volunteers install pumpkin people characters for display outside JCC.
  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    10am-2pm • Jackson Library
    • Return to full hours of Tu&Th 10-7, W&F 2-5, Sa 10-2. We will continue to close on Sunday for the time being.
    • Masks and distance will be strictly required while in the building. If you’re unable to mask, you can still take advantage of our pickup or delivery service – simply let us know what you need.
    • One family at a time in the kids room.
    • Bathrooms and meeting room remain closed.
    • Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • Community Event: HOME CONCERT with SETH GLIERS (Mountaintop Music program)
    7:30pm • Hale’s Location Home
    Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Seth Glier will perform at an intimate home concert at a lovely residence in Hale’s Location with spectacular mountain views of our valley in its autumn splendor.  Come enjoy a superb lyricist and songwriter with a clear, passionate voice.  Please take note of  new Covid policy requiring proof of vaccination or a negative test.  In addition, the host of this home concert is requesting that all patrons remain masked during the concert. More info: https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php
  • Community Event: MUSIC at SHANNON DOOR
    Evening • Shannon Door
  • Community Event: JONATHAN SARTY
    6-9pm  • Wildcat Tavern, Jackson

SUN, Oct 3

  • INTERFAITH GATHERING
    8am • Pavilion & Zoom link required.
    Poetry and conversation outside. Join us. Bring your own hot beverage on cold mornings!
  • CHOIR REHEARSAL
    9am • Zoom link required.
  • PET BLESSING (in-person at Jackson gazebo near historical society)
    9:30-10am • Gazebo
    Bring your pets for blessing. We will provide snacks & blessings! Due to interactions with different animals, all pets should be under owner’s control through leashing, carrying container, etc.
  • VIRTUAL WORSHIP & IN-PERSON
    10:30am •  Zoom link required.
    • Join us for worship with music, scripture, prayer and reflection.
    • Live music by Alan Labrie
    • Message with Rev Gail Doktor
    • Stay for virtual coffee hour (via Zoom only).
    • In-person attendance requires social distancing, masking when not seated is requested, masking is required for non-vaccinated individuals (additional precautions may be changed based on COVID stats and CDC guidelines).
    • Service will also be live-streamed to website and Facebook (if technology supports this function on the day of event). Afterward, recordings of worship service will be posted to Facebook, Vimeo.com channel & Youtube.com channel.
  • Community Event: MUSIC at SHANNON DOOR
    Evening • Shannon Door

Ahava / Love as reflected in Jewish prayer known as Shema

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Home, Weekly MeditationsTagged , , , , , ,
There is no remedy for love but to love more.
—Henry David Thoreau

The first two of these commandments —
love for God and love for our fellow humans —
are actualized through mitzvot, a system that shapes ideals
into behavior and is deepened through communal norms.
— Joanna Samuels

Love God. Love God with everything you are: heart, mind, soul, strength. Love God with your life. — Kathryn M. Schifferdecker,
SONGS about AHAVA/LOVE
Ahava by Yonina (ballad): https://youtu.be/XqDH6RH5jas
Love/Ahava by Daniel Jawahar (Indian pop Christian): https://youtu.be/x11r5-7ciQs
Ahavat Olam performed by Platt Brothers (Hebrew worship): https://youtu.be/1yhk_obX7CQ
Ahava by Liran Notik (pop): https://youtu.be/mVKAwm3uaqs
Love Ahava by Everything Worship (Christian): https://youtu.be/Xy50VuvdYqM
Ahava Ka’zo (A Love Like This) by Idan Raichel (pop ballad): https://youtu.be/zkyorHkaJUA
Shir Ahava Bedui (A Bedouin Love Song) by David Broza (folk rock): https://youtu.be/z5mCVtcc8Hg
Some Love / Kama Ahava by Kobi Peretz (pop): https://youtu.be/XkpdFicK5As
Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) performed by The Voice of One Calling (Hebrew/Arabic Christian): https://youtu.be/ZHW0uTpzsCM
Shema by Misha Goetz & Shae Wilbur (Jewish contemporary): https://youtu.be/81HSXFtYMRs
Shir Ahava (Love Song) performed by David Seguin (Hebrew Christian worship): https://youtu.be/UEX83Irhag4

SONGS about LOVE
Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane (rock): https://youtu.be/5Jj3wZVc7nw
All You Need is Love by The Beatles (rock): https://youtu.be/_7xMfIp-irg
I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton (country): https://youtu.be/lKsQR72HY0s
Love Is All performed by Playing for Change children’s choir (pop anthem): https://youtu.be/q4T37EaW4eU
Lean on Me by Bill Withers (rock): https://youtu.be/qkaexjc-1os
What’s Love Got to Do with It? by Tina Turner (rock): https://youtu.be/oGpFcHTxjZs
Vision of Love by Mariah Carey (pop ballad): https://youtu.be/tov22NtCMC4
The Book of Love by the Magnetic Fields (rock ballad): https://youtu.be/jkjXr9SrzQE
That’s How Strong My Love Is by Otis Redding (rock ballad): https://youtu.be/l7T9HKmERv0
I Say a Little Prayer by Aretha Franklin: https://youtu.be/7Ifw8JhDBvs
Cheek to Cheek by Ella Fitzgerald (ballad): https://youtu.be/GeisCvjwBMo
It Had to be You by Harry Conick Jr (jazz): https://youtu.be/_UnQOfPwZfs

Love Is the Most Ancient Law: A Blessing  — Jan Richardson
Open to it and you will know
how love is its own blessing
and most ancient of laws.
Pursue it entirely
with everything in you—
your heart (all)
your soul (all)
your mind (all).
Spend it all—
this love so generous
this love that goes out
to each it finds
this love that gives itself
in lavish and unimagined measure
everywhere and to all—
yourself not least.
Resources:
* Ahava / Love by the Bible Project (animated video): https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/ahavah-love/
* Agape / Love by the Bible Project (animated video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slyevQ1LW7A
AHAVA REFLECTIONS

The greatest commandment is to love God and the best way I know to love God is to love what God loves—which is everything! Surely this is the way that Jesus loves. To love as Jesus loves, we too must be connected to the Source of love. … If you don’t live from within your own center of connection and communion with God, you’ll go spinning around many other things. The true goal of all religion is to lead you back to the place where everything is one, to the experience of radical unity with all of humanity and all of creation, and hence to the experience of unity with God, who is the Great Includer of all else…  — Fr. Richard Rohr, Center for Action & Contemplation, https://cac.org/radical-simplicity-2020-06-29/

Love God. Love God with everything you are: heart, soul, strength. Love God with your life (perhaps a better translation than “soul,” since Israel didn’t conceive of a disembodied soul). Many scholars would say that “love” here is not primarily an emotion. They point to examples of political treaties known from the ancient Near East. To “love” one’s sovereign in these ancient political covenants was to be loyal to him … Such ancient political treaties are undoubtedly in the background of this passage. To “love” God as one would “love” a human sovereign entails primarily action, not emotion. To love is to be faithful and loyal in fulfilling the obligations of the covenant … Still, there is another realm of life in which the language of love and covenant abounds. The metaphor of marriage, though not as explicit in Deuteronomy as in other biblical books, provides a central biblical paradigm for understanding the relationship of God and Israel. —   Kathryn M. Schifferdecker, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-31-2/commentary-on-deuteronomy-61-9

The laws are made for us, not us for the laws… We do not serve a distant God, but one who actually cares about how you treat people and how you are treated. People matter. Relationships matter. The dignity of human beings matters. — Nadia Bolz-Weber

The ancient Hebrew word “ahava” that is often translated as “love” in the Bible has a unique meaning too.  Sadly, this amazing Hebrew word is hidden behind the nonchalant English term that everyone uses for everything. Love or “ahava” in the Hebraic mind is very different in today’s culture. In the Hebrew, love is connected directly with action and obedience. Strong’s Exhaustive Dictionary defines ahava as “to have affection, sexually or otherwise, love, like, to befriend, to be intimate.”  It brings to mind the idea of longing for or breathing for another. Hebraically ahava is a verb and a noun, it is an act of doing. Ahava is not just a feeling. To get a clear understanding of ahava, let’s examine the Hebrew word itself and learn how to love Hebraically. — Daniel Rendelman, https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Hebrew-Word-Study–Ahavah.html?soid=1101268607427&aid=aDzDQxelEmk

Ahava: This is Commitment Love. It is a ferocious love. We describe this as the, I’m-not-going anywhere kind of love. It is when you say, “I know that I’ll mess up, but you’ll still be there for me” kind of love.” It is not, “I will be with you for as long as you make me feel good, but once you are dull, mean, rude or old then see you later.” This is the primary kind of love that God has for his children. Ahava anchors you down to the one you love. — Charles Schuman, https://www.fortgordonnews.com/articles/true-definition-of-love-given-by-god/

Whereas other biblical nouns and verbs convey a particular type of love, such as ion (hesed) which often designates kindness and loyalty, or p^n (hesheq), which denotes desire or passion, nnx (ahv, verb) is employed in a wide variety of social, political, and spiritual contexts. Ahv and ahavah (noun) occur over 200 times in biblical narratives and poetry. They convey notions of attachment, passion, affection, preference, loyalty, and yearning. — https://what-when-how.com/love-in-world-religions/ahavah/

Taken together the command to love God with all our heart, soul, and might seems clearly to encompass every aspect of our being as well as all of our exertions of energy. All of our lives, all of our identity. And all of our actions. All of who we are, our gifts, our capacities to act. And not just a portion, a slice. All. Every last capacity. No part of our lives is to be segmented apart from full devotion to God, to obey and follow His precepts. This is the path to the greatest blessing … God will not compel their love. True love requires choice. Coerced relationship is abuse. God is love. With the clear direction of what path is in their best interest, God provides freedom. Freedom is the ability to choose …
https://thebiblesays.com/commentary/deut/deut-6/deuteronomy-64-5/

One Today — Richard Blanco
One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.
My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors,
each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:
pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,
fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper—
bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,
on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives—
to teach geometry, or ring-up groceries as my mother did
for twenty years, so I could write this poem.
All of us as vital as the one light we move through,
the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day:
equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined,
the “I have a dream” we keep dreaming,
or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain
the empty desks of twenty children marked absent
today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light
breathing color into stained glass windows,
life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth
onto the steps of our museums and park benches
as mothers watch children slide into the day.
One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk
of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat
and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills
in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm, hands
digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands
as worn as my father’s cutting sugarcane
so my brother and I could have books and shoes.
The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains
mingled by one wind—our breath. Breathe. Hear it
through the day’s gorgeous din of honking cabs,
buses launching down avenues, the symphony
of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways,
the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.
Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,
or whispers across café tables, Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying: hello / shalom,
buon giorno / howdy / namaste / or buenos días
in the language my mother taught me—in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.
One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.
One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes
tired from work: some days guessing at the weather
of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love
that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother
who knew how to give, or forgiving a father
who couldn’t give what you wanted.
We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight
of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always—home,
always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon
like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country—all of us—
facing the stars
hope—a new constellation
waiting for us to map it,
waiting for us to name it—together

AHAVA: Meditations on Holy Love & Human Love

Ahava Love is the risky, vulnerable, uninsured act of donatng what I prize most. Me. — Steven Daugherty

Love is unselfishly choosing for another’s good. — CS Lewis

The only way I know how to teach anyone to love God, and how I myself can love God, is to love what God loves, which is everything and everyone, including you and including me! — Fr. Richard Rohr

… according to Ahava, the woman described in Proverbs 31 is not some ideal that exists out there; she is present in each one of us when we do even the smallest things with valor. ― Rachel Held Evans

What was new and remarkable in the Bible was the idea that love, not just fairness, is the driving principle of the moral life. – Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

As we perform these acts of love, they form in us a new memory — not of our vulnerability or nostalgia, but of our capacity to act. These mitzvot of love will become, we hope, as familiar as our established mitzvot already are. They hold open the invitation, always, for depth, intention, and truth.— Joanna Samuels
le’ehov ze klum, lihiot ne’ehav ze mashehu, aval le’ehov velihiot ne’ehav ze hakol לאהוב זה כלום. להיות נאהב זה משהו. אבל לאהוב ולהיות נאהב זה הכל. To love is nothing. To be loved is something. But to love and be loved is everything. — Saying in Hebrew, unattributed

Most of us were taught that God would love us if and when we change. In fact, God loves you so that you can change. What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change is the experience of love. It is that inherent experience of love that becomes the engine of change. ― Fr  Richard Rohr
ahava hi kmo ruach, yi efshar lirot ota, akh nitan lehargish ota אהבה היא כמו רוח, אי אפשר לראות אותה, אך ניתן להרגיש אותה. Love is like the wind, you can’t see it, but you can feel it. — Saying in Hebrew, unattributed

We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God’s family. ― Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The first element of true love is loving kindness. The essence of loving kindness is being able to offer happiness. You can be the sunshine for another person. You can’t offer happiness until you have it for yourself. So build a home inside by accepting yourself and learning to love and heal yourself. Learn how to practice mindfulness in such a way that you can create moments of happiness and joy for your own nourishment. Then you have something to offer the other person. ― Thích Nhất Hạnh

Jesus has loved his followers so that they may love each other. Love calls for love in turn. Love makes love imperative. — Allen Dwight Callahan

And only when we see ourselves and others as Jesus’ friends is it possible to love with the heart of God. … then all other competing claims about who we are simply melt away. You are no longer male or female, Jew or Greek, gay or straight, urban or suburban, republican or democrat, rich or poor you are simply the one whom Jesus loves. You are the beloved disciple. You are the one whom Jesus has called friend. And this unchangeable and unassailable identity you have as the one whom Jesus loves is the basis by which you too are afforded the honor of being loved by others as Jesus’ Friend. For you are who Christ chose and named as such. And nothing else gets to tell you who you are. — Nadia Bolz-Weber

Every morning, my father and I would get up early and say the prayers. Today, when I say these prayers, I wonder how I could have said that then? It was hypocrisy. It was a lie to say there that our God is a God of mercy. There is a sentence, Ahava rabbah Ahavtainu, with great love You have loved us; what great love You have given us and You loved us, and Your compassion was not only great but excessive. There? Yet we said it. — Eli Wiesel, Night, holocaust survivor

We continue to live in a fractured world filled with sinat hinam (baseless hatred), which each of us has an individual responsibility to counter with ahavat hinam (baseless love). The first step to repairing the world is for more of us to re-imagine it, particularly in relating to the other. Through acceptance, respect, and love, we invite the other in to share a safe space where we can become our best selves together. — Rabbi Yehoshua Looks

… abounding with ahava and shalom, love and peace, and a year made complete by the purpose to serve one another in joy. — Rabbi Max Miller

Sometimes the love of God is 12 inches from being real, the distance from the head to the heart. — David Ivey

… When I came to the Buddhist article in that issue of Parabola, I was struck by how similar to ‘agape’ is the word ‘metta’ from the ancient Pali language of India. The author, the Buddhist monk, Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi, said the closest he could come to an English translation of ‘metta’ is ‘loving-kindness.’ … — Bob West

Christ’s message is one of pure love.  Loving for the sick, the poor, the oppressed that is what we are called to do … Christ has commanded us to show this love to every single human being on this planet.
… Our goal must be to, as Pope Francis has said, be a field hospital for those in a battle that rages all around us. The battle goes on in the form of war, famine, poverty, persecution, and it is our job to show the love of Christ to those afflicted. We are to walk alongside those who are walking down rough pathways in their lives…. Instead, we must have as a first goal to love and help each individual on earth …  — Devan, religion student, Emory and Henry College

I Did Think, Let’s Go About This Slowly
— Mary Oliver

I did think, let’s go about this slowly.

This is important. This should take

some really deep thought. We should take

small thoughtful steps.

But, bless us, we didn’t.

This week with JCC and around town: TUE, SEPT 21 – SUN, SEPT 26

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Calendar, HomeTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

ONGOING

  • Community Event: GEOCACHING (Upper Saco Valley Land Trust program)
    Sept 20-Oct 1 • Dundee Forest
    Explore the Bartlett Tract of the Dundee Community Forest project while seeking geocaches throughout the forest rich with biodiversity and pristine streams. Enjoy the exploration on your own, with friends, and with family members while appreciating the protection of rare natural ecosystems. Be one of the first to find hidden geocaches and win a prize! Email info@usvlt.org for the clues!

TUE, Sept 21

  • CLERGY LUNCH (zoom)
    12:30pm • Zoom
    Lunch with clergy gathers for collegial support. Rev Gail attends.

WED, Sept 22

  • CLASS: FITNESS with LAURIE McALEER
    9am • JCC
    Join us for a free gentle fitness class.
  • Community Event: PHOTO WALKS along DUNDEE ROAD (Upper Saco Valley Land Trust program)
    9am-Noon • Space is limited; reservations required. Email info@usvlt.org to register, and include which date you would like to attend.
    USVLT and the North Country Camera Club will host two photowalks focusing on streams, woods, scenic vistas, the Dame House cellar hole and the Ham House along Dundee Road as features of the Dundee Community Forest project. Perhaps the foliage will also be sharing its beautiful colors! Photographers of all levels are invited to attend. Space is limited; reservations required. Email info@usvlt.org to register, and include which date you would like to attend. Please bring your own camera.
  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    2-5pm • Jackson Library
  • Community Event: FLOW & ALIGN YOGA with Anjali Rose
    5pm • Zoom. (Zoom Pre-registration link)
    Class sponsored by the Friends of the Whitney Center. We will explore the body, mind and soul with mindful movement. These yoga classes are intentionally created with sequences to instill strength, flexibility and mobility. This fun and community oriented class is for all ages and abilities. Simply bring a mat, strap, block and blanket.
  • Community Event: WHITE MOUNTAIN CEILI BAND
    5:30 – 9pm • Wildcat Tavern Dinner reservations required: 800-228-4245 or 603-383-4245.
    The musicians will play on the porch of the Igloo a safe distance from guests and vice versa. Join Michael Levine (guitar), Dexter Harding (tenor banjo), Siena Kaplan-Thompson (fiddle) & Fiona Howell (flute) for traditional Irish Session music. Stomp your feet, clap your hands, and dance a little jig as these accomplished musicians play centuries old tunes. For more information on the White Mountain Ceili Band visit: whitemountainceiliband.com

THURS, Sept 23

  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    10am-7pm • Jackson Library
    • Return to full hours of Tu&Th 10-7, W&F 2-5, Sa 10-2. We will continue to close on Sunday for the time being.
    • Masks and distance will be strictly required while in the building. If you’re unable to mask, you can still take advantage of our pickup or delivery service – simply let us know what you need.
    • One family at a time in the kids room.
    • Bathrooms and meeting room remain closed.
    • Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • Community Service: WAY STATION SHIFT
    1pm • Food pickup
    2:30pm • Curbside package preparation
    5pm • Shift at curbside with guests
    @ 15 Grove St, North Conway, NH
    Rev Gail and JCC volunteers serve this weekly outreach to local homeless and housing-insecure residents.
  • Community Event: INTRO to WILDERNESS and ADVENTURE THERAPY (Upper Saco Valley Land Trust program)
    10am • Space is limited; reservations required. Please email info@usvlt.org to register.
    The use of the outdoors as a therapeutic catalyst for change is as old as time itself. In the modern era, it has been referred to as wilderness therapy, outdoor therapy, adventure therapy, and ecotherapy, and has been growing all over the country and the world for the last 25 years.  This two-hour experience will teach participants ways to use the outdoors to accelerate the therapeutic benefit – whether a multi-day solo adventure or a twenty-minute walk in the woods  – as well as a brief history of the field. The talk and walk will be facilitated by Jackson local Will White, and will take place in the Dundee Community Forest project area in Jackson.
  • Community Event: HAWK TALK (Tin Mountain program)
    7pm • Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87482871350
    Meeting ID: 874 8287 1350
    Join Tin Mountain research manager Katy Lewis for a discussion of common migrating hawks of the northeast. The program will cover basic identification marks, flight, behavior, and sightings of hawks. An optional hawk watch on 9/25 allows participants to put these new ID skill into practice.

FRI, Sept 24

  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    2-5pm • Jackson Library
    • Return to full hours of Tu&Th 10-7, W&F 2-5, Sa 10-2. We will continue to close on Sunday for the time being.
    • Masks and distance will be strictly required while in the building. If you’re unable to mask, you can still take advantage of our pickup or delivery service – simply let us know what you need.
    • One family at a time in the kids room.
    • Bathrooms and meeting room remain closed.
    • Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • Community Event: WAY STATION HOUSING TASK FORCE
    Afternoon • Northern NH with Tri-County Cap
    Rev Gail and members of housing task force participate in tours of existing facilities to investigate potential housing options for local area.
  • C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONS
    5pm • Zoom (link required)
    Gather virtually to discuss scripture and explore art images associated with the text.
  • Community Event: SHABBAT SERVICE
    6pm • In-Person @ Bethlehem Hebrew Congregation Sanctuary & Via Zoom
    To join us on Zoom, please register here: bhcsynagogue1920@gmail.com
  • Community Event: MUSIC at SHANNON DOOR – Jeremy Holden
    Evening • Shannon Door

SAT, Sept 25

  • Community Event: PHOTO WALKS along DUNDEE ROAD (Upper Saco Valley Land Trust program)
    9am • Space is limited; reservations required. Email info@usvlt.org to register, and include which date you would like to attend.
    USVLT and the North Country Camera Club will host two photowalks focusing on streams, woods, scenic vistas, the Dame House cellar hole and the Ham House along Dundee Road as features of the Dundee Community Forest project. Perhaps the foliage will also be sharing its beautiful colors! Photographers of all levels are invited to attend. Space is limited; reservations required. Email info@usvlt.org to register, and include which date you would like to attend. Please bring your own camera.
  • Community Event: HAWK WATCH: Peary Mountain (Tin Mountain program)
    9am • Field program. Register for details. Registration is required. Call 447-6991 or click here to register online.
    Join us in search of hawks during their fall migration. Enjoy a great hike on Peary Mountain in Brownfield, Maine, while we look for hawks, other birds, and signs of fall. Bring binoculars or borrow ours.
  • Community Event: INSIDE/OUTSIDE
    1pm / 4pm / 7pm • Majestic Theater, Conway, NH
    More info & tickets: http://www.artsinmotiontheater.com/
    Arts in Motion Theater Company is proud and honored to announce a “page to stage” writing and live theatre project titled Outside, Inside.Directed, facilitated and produced by Aimee Frechette, Glenn Noble, Jacob Dunham, alongside an amazing team of teenage co-directors, this all-inclusive process is not to be missed!
  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    10am-2pm • Jackson Library
    • Return to full hours of Tu&Th 10-7, W&F 2-5, Sa 10-2. We will continue to close on Sunday for the time being.
    • Masks and distance will be strictly required while in the building. If you’re unable to mask, you can still take advantage of our pickup or delivery service – simply let us know what you need.
    • One family at a time in the kids room.
    • Bathrooms and meeting room remain closed.
    • Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • Community Event: MUSIC at SHANNON DOOR -Bobby Sheehan & Jeremy Holden
    Evening • Shannon Door
  • Community Event: GARDEN STATE CONCERT – Jon Sarty Band
    4:30p-6:30p (Seating 3:45p) / 7p-9p (6:45p Seating) •
    Wildcat Tavern, Jackson
    Two shows per night. Tables have a max of 10 people. Events are all ages. Tickets required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-jonathan-sarty-band-tickets-150324611961?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

SUN, Sept 26

  • INTERFAITH GATHERING
    8am • Pavilion & Zoom (link required)
    Poetry and conversation outside. Join us. Bring your own hot beverage on cold mornings!
  • CHOIR REHEARSAL
    9am • Zoom (link required)
  • VIRTUAL WORSHIP & IN-PERSON
    10:30am •  Zoom (link required)
    • Join us for worship with music, scripture, prayer and reflection.
    • Live music by Alan Labrie
    • Message with Rev Gail Doktor
    • Stay for virtual coffee hour (via Zoom only).
    • In-person attendance requires social distancing, masking when not seated is requested, masking is required for non-vaccinated individuals (additional precautions may be changed based on COVID stats and CDC guidelines).
    • Service will also be live-streamed to website and Facebook (if technology supports this function on the day of event). Afterward, recordings of worship service will be posted to Facebook, Vimeo.com channel & Youtube.com channel.
  • Community Event: MUSIC at SHANNON DOOR – Riley Parkhurst
    Evening • Shannon Door
  • Community Event: COLD RIVER RADIO SHOW
    7pm • Majestic Theater, Conway, NH
    Info & tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-cold-river-radio-show-9th-anniversary-celebration-tickets-168638140217
    9th Anniversary Showwith Host Jonathan Sarty and His Fabulous Cold River Radio Band and Special Guests, “Boston’s Queen of Soul Jazz,” Cassandre McKinley, Guitarist Tyler-James Kelly Frontman of “The Silks”, Author of “The Last Seat in The House: The Story of Hanley Sound” John Kane, and Local Spotlight Duo “Just Be-Cause,” with singer/songwriter Christine Rogers and bass player Moe Baillargeon.
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