Rituals & Spirituality Archives - Page 6 of 9

Finding Peace in Midlife

by Monique Faison Ross

Nervously, after my adult daughters were already told what was happening, or more accurately, had figured it out on their own, I sat my 19-year-old son down to have “The Talk.” “Mom, what?” he said with growing anxiety. ”Just tell me.” And, so I did: “Leah and I are dating.” (Leah is a woman, of course). With a long deep sigh of relief, I had finally said it.

I stared at him waiting for his reaction and my presumed need to defend my reasons. I was well prepared to explain why at this juncture in my life my relationship with Leah had changed my entire world and would, in turn, change theirs. I wanted to explain that it was not just an overused cliché that spills out of the mouths of many couples but that Leah did, in fact, complete me. […]

Bat Mitzvah Revisited

by Randi Hoffman

Sitting at my computer in my bedroom I can hear an old man screaming at my daughter. He says, “Get back here! You are being very disrespectful!” She is sitting at her father’s desk in the living room, crying and staring at the ground. The normally cordial and gentle rabbi is on Skype attempting to go over her Torah portion with her. She had gone on a quest searching the apartment for Wite Out without informing him, leaving him looking at an empty chair. This is not a good situation, and I have a feeling it will end badly. […]

The Fall of My Reflection (A Nod to Rosh Hashanah)

by Cyma Shapiro

(Stepping through that “time of life”) The nature and rhythm of my life has changed. What used to be simply firecrackers and passion, fast movement and hard-fast determination, has become a slightly mellower shade of honey, and flows at that very same pour-speed.

What used to be denial of things/time of life/aging has now become sobering, hard-core reality that we must savor each and every day, and that each and every day really is someone else’s last.

What used to be dreaming and planning for something (what?) has given way to acknowledging the present moment… and accepting it.

And, that all the determination and precise planning we give to everything simply cannot belie the fact that someone/something has greater power than we do.

This year, I will breathe in acceptance of the fact that I do not know it all; maybe do not know most of it; and that all of that knowing doesn’t mean that circumstances might not change it all – in an instant.

I know now that all I know is that I am alive and breathing and trying my best… each and every day.

The Long Wave Goodbye

by Cyma Shapiro

Dear Reader: This is a rewrite of a previous post. Forgive my liberties in reprinting those few posts which resonate with me and provide a framework for all that follows. This pays homage to the start of school, the passing of time, and the recognition that having children changes it all.

Today, I waved to my daughter riding away on the bus. The silly kind of wave – two arms flailing, as if flagging down a passing ship. I was also jumping up and down. We both continued waving until the bus was out of sight.

Walking back to my house, I had a lump in my throat. I am sad. Sad for the absence of these experiences with my own mother; sad for the time which is passing so quickly; sad, too, that I see that my parenting must be working well – my own daughter still longs for me and keeps me in her sight. I did not have that with my own mother.

I will continue to try my hardest to fulfill that need, until her hands stop reaching for mine, the arm waves stop and I see her waving to her friends, not me. That time is coming. In fact, it’s just around the corner. […]

Soul Contracts – Do Our Children Choose Us?

by Jo Beth Young

Angel and Girl on Hill by Jo Beth Young

The Angels are always adamant that we have a beautiful karmic bond with the Children we choose and that choose us, whether they be by birth, adoption or fostering.

Those of us familiar with Soul Contracts won’t find this too hard to understand when we realize that all of our relationships, but particularly those of intimacy and depth, are all pre destined and chosen mainly in the spirit state before birth.

In the last year I’ve started to ‘see’ these bonds of contracts and soul seed paths behind people when they come for readings. They look remarkable; a cross between a star map and a string of pearls. Each strand showing us the agreements and ‘destiny’ points on our journey, with as much time and leeway as our free will wishes to join up dot to dot! […]

there’s no place like hOMe

by Jenilyn Gilbert

I’ve been practicing meditation on and off for thirty seven years. I started my practice at six (or whatever age I was when I was playing with my Wizard of Oz dolls, because they came with me to my first lesson).

My parents brought me to a meditation center where a nice lady gave me a mantra to practice. The mantra I was given was the classic sound “Om” and I was to say it as many times as my age, so six times. When I got home, I recall chanting on my swing in the backyard and saying “Om” out loud and losing count as I enjoyed the vibration of the sound in my chest. […]

My Child’s Guardian Angel

by Jo Beth Young

Healing Angel
by Jo Beth Young

Have you ever wondered if your child has a Guardian Angel? If you have had your own first-hand experience of Angels, then you’ll already be in doubt that they do! However, if you’ve yet to see or sense the angelic realm around you, help is at hand!

I’m looking forward to sharing my experience and insights with you to help you make this loving heavenly link which not only brings a whole new exciting dimension to parenting but can help us understand our own children on an even deeper level.

I have connected consciously with Angels since childhood myself and I can tell you that not only do your children and yourself have these beautiful benevolent beings of light loving looking over you, but that far from being ‘wishful thinking,’ they actually have a very important and integral role during the different stages of your child’s development. […]

The Sweet Surrender of Sleep

by Jennifer Magnano

Sleep always seems to come most easily to those in great fatigue in every place and space of being. All of our “bodies” – physical, spiritual, emotional, mental – are finally depleted. It so appears that only at this very moment, when we have nothing left to give and are completely “fried,” that we just might be able to rest… and rest well. Yet, this often is not the case. Most nurturers don’t experience really great slumber. Restless or chronically overtired, it is with great uncertainty that we reach out to the blissful edge of sweet surrender. […]

Traditions

Cyma Shapiro

As another Passover approaches, I can’t help but think back wistfully to my childhood with Eastern European grandparents and all that it held for me – the incessant Yiddish conversations, the Yiddish radio broadcasts; a home that smelled from a mixture of fish, moth balls and sometimes sweat. The odors that emanated from the kitchen during Chanukah, Rosh Hashanah and Passover, all of which have stayed with me to this day. The ever-present small Russian shot-glasses rimmed with “gold” are missing, except for the imprint they’ve left in my mind. Most of all, I remember the laughter and large tables filled with food, surrounded by extended family. […]

Love That Rings True

by Jenilyn Gilbert

I met my husband swing dancing in Grant Park in downtown Chicago when I was 38 years old. We dated for a couple of years and I was one month into my fortieth year when I walked down the aisle.

I recall the time before I met him; all the first dates, sadness over not having a life partner and feeling so left out and so behind my peers. I attended so many wedding showers and weddings that I never thought my turn would come. When I attended a friend’s second wedding, I thought ‘that’s it, this will never be me, now they’re starting to run two circles around me. I will never get married.’ Now that I’m two years into my marriage I just want to be pregnant. […]