Building a Taj Majal
Observations from a road trip to a bat mitzvah:
Rabbi kept mentioning 9/11 and the War in Iraq – I told him, hey, what up?, how about Katrina in your own backyard. For the final ceremony he dwelled on Katrina.
Kudzu is taking over the world – or at least the southeast.
Black W stickers abound in Alabama – I thought they were supporting the hotel chain because the logo is so similar.
Even while noticing the few absent family members this weekend, you can’t help but notice the amazing expansion of an already large family.
Upon returning to Louisiana – the bumper sticker said “Is it 2008 yet?”
Over the state line coming into Louisiana – a Pelican flew over Beau Sauvage. A few miles later, devastation.
I’ve decided to quit sharing with others the woes of renovating a house in Post-Katrina times. My new thing is I am building Taj Majal.
After S, my youngest niece, finished her Bat Mitzvah, my brother R, talked about the past year. He said it has been a hard one, losing his mother to a heart attack (he is my half brother), losing his sister in a car accident (again not related to me), and having gone through difficult times with his oldest daughter N, and having watched his family in New Orleans go through Katrina – he said he gets through the troubled times by calling on a reservoir inside of him that is filled with good memories and he told his youngest daughter that she occupies 3/4 of that reservoir – my entire row openly sobbed.
A reading from services on Saturday morning:
In this quiet hour of worship, we reflect upon the meaning of our lives.
I harbor within-we all do-a vision of my highest self, a dream of what I could and should become. May I pursue this vision, labor to make real my dream. Thus will I give meaning to my life.
An artist in the course of painting will pause, lay aside the brush, step back from the canvas, and consider what needs to be done, what direction is to be taken. So does each of us on this Sabbath eve pause to reflect. As I hope to make my life a work of art, so may this hour of worship help me to turn back to the canvas of life to paint the portrait of my highest self.
May my efforts to grow in the moral stature bring me joy of achievement. And may I always hold before my eyes the vision of perfection we call by the name of God-grow towards that.
Amen