On The Wisdom Daily this week (Dec. 7-11), we explored the emotional process of anticipating a major loss, the concern some feel about how to greet others at holiday time, the fear response achieved by terrorists, the competing priorities in our end-of-year schedules, the philanthropic announcement from a tech billionaire… and more. Did you grow wiser this week? We hope The Wisdom Daily played a part. Grieving Loss Before a Death – Matt Gewirtz I foolishly thought burying my almost 91-year old father would have been easier than what my siblings......
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Spirituality & Faith, Wisdom Warehouse |
December 08, 2015
When It Comes to Holiday Greetings, Assume the Best
Back in 2009, Gap released one of my favorite holiday commercials. It featured a group of happy, sweater wearing, scarf-clad people dancing while chanting the following: Two, four, six, eight ’tis the time to liberate! Go Christmas! Go Chanukah! Go Kwanza! Go Solstice! Go classic tree! Go plastic tree! Go plant a tree! Go without a tree! You 86 the rules. You do what just feels right. Happy do whatever you wannukah and to all a cheery night! My then eight-year-old daughter loved the commercial as well and quickly memorized the lyrics.......
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From Odyssey Networks’ Faith on the Record series: Here’s a piece of Thanksgiving advice that’s actually useful before, during and after the holiday. And it’s advice you’re not likely to hear anyplace else: Don’t worry about gratitude and thankfulness on Thanksgiving. Surprised? Watch my video for more insight and discussion on when we should worry about gratitude… Odyssey Networks tells the stories of faith in action changing the world for the better. Their stories explore a wide range of issues including peace, tolerance, social justice and the environment. To watch more videos......
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News & Politics, Spirituality & Faith, Wisdom Warehouse |
November 16, 2015
The Starbucks Cup: It’s About Conversation
To paraphrase a famous statement, nonsense is nonsense, but the reaction to nonsense is worth looking at. What was at the bottom of the Starbucks cup controversy for me is not what it said about Christians and Christianity, but what it means for those of us who strive to make meaningful connections between religious traditions, rather than reinforce barriers. At issue here is not watering down what is Christian to avoid offending someone who is not Christian. What is at issue is maintaining spaces that can be conducive to meeting on equal......
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On The Wisdom Daily this week (March 30-April 3), we discussed the start of Passover and the discussion of freedom that surrounds this time. We were struck by a friend’s birthday celebration and the art of giving and receiving. And, we reflected on the Pope’s Holy Week address and the debate around Indiana’s new Religious Freedom law. Did you grow wiser this week? We hope The Wisdom Daily played a part. Is Focusing on Martyrdom Really the Way To Go? – Brad Hirschfield Palm Sunday opened Holy Week on Sunday, as......
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What makes this night different from all other nights? More people experience Passover Seder across more backgrounds than any other Jewish practice. On this night people all over the world engage in an evening long meditation on freedom… a dramatic mix of story telling and singing, drinking and eating, all designed to get one job done: Help us become genuinely free. How free are we? The Seder is a three-step meditation on the journey inviting us to realize: Wherever we are, we are in Egypt… in some way. There is always a......
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Spirituality & Faith, Videos, Wisdom Warehouse |
November 14, 2014
Video: Removing Religious Holidays from the School Calendar
From Odyssey Networks’ Faith on the Record series: This week, the Board of Education in Montgomery County, Maryland voted 7 to 1 to eliminate references to all religious holidays in their published calendar for 2015-2016. They acted in response to a request from the community’s Muslim leaders that the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha be added alongside holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hoshanah. The move is bad policy and wrong thinking – We don’t make room for each other best when we banish parts of who we......
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I have spoken with three friends in the last 36 hours, all of whom lost their moms in the past year, about how they deal with Mother’s Day, and I’ve come to a conclusion about the potential power of celebrating “Day After Mother’s Day,” for those who find themselves in that position. For some who have lost their mom (or for members of the family), it may seem morbid – or a bit uncomfortable, at least – to focus on a departed mother on the holiday of Mother’s Day itself. Why not......
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One of the four questions at the Passover Seder – the most celebrated Jewish practice in the world – is why we need to dip food into some condiment twice during the Seder when most meals we don’t dip our food at all? First, we dip a green vegetable into the salt water and then we dip the bitter herbs into the haroset – a pasty mix of apples, walnuts, and wine. The great 12th century sage Maimonides teaches that dipping is a sign of wealth, and wealth when recognized as a......
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In this video, Rabbi Irwin Kula talks about the significance of Rosh Hashanah; the Shofar calls out to each of us to wake up and attend to our lives, to make sure that we become aware of the other levels of meaning in our lives. The Wisdom of the Holidays series was made possible by a grant from Odyssey Networks. Produced and directed by Diva Communications.? This content originally appeared on clal.org on September 19, 2012....
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