Shabbat Inspiration with Diane

Recently, my sister was sharing with me the story of a reconciliation that had unfolded over a number of years, each choice bringing the players in the drama closer to a place of love. A “synchronicity” had just surfaced, bringing people together now from years ago who didn’t even know each other and yet were part of a sad story that affected them and those around them. As I listened to how everything was now, years later, falling into place to create love and redemption, it was so clear that HaShem’s Hand had been in it from the beginning, just waiting for this beautiful resolution. And yet, there were a multitude of choices people made along the way that built to this day, decisions... Read More →

Generally, unless it is an emergency, I try to stay off of my phone on Erev Shabbat and Shabbat. Being in Florida, however, I have tended to leave my phone on just in case. So this morning, Shabbat morning, I received an email regarding Ruach’s building and work I am doing regarding the changes in ownership. I thought it would put the writer at ease if I responded, so I did. First, the email I sent wouldn’t download. No matter what I did, I couldn’t check what I sent. To make it even more bizarre, when I went into my “Sent” folder the ONLY messages, from now and going all the way back to 2014 when I got this IPhone, were my Shabbat encouragements!!! This just cannot be!! I look at ... Read More →

Last week I shared with you that I am in Florida reconnecting, or more appropriately, connecting with family members I didn’t know until recently. The group is increasing and each week my cousins and I are learning more and more about our families. A true blessing. It feels like a major love healing is occurring sending positivity into this world as we shine light on the dark, one small person at a time. As part of that process, this week each cousin was sharing about their experiences with their grandparents. These would be my father’s parents, the grandparents I never knew. Until this week the reports were all glowing. Then some new stories came to light which mirrored those I had... Read More →

I have not sent Shabbat encouragements for the past couple weeks. My special time with HaShem, the times when these weekly thoughts often arise, has been disrupted due to the sudden death of my aunt and our unanticipated early trip to Florida to attend to her affairs. I have not been in that special space where I can hear Him amid so much distraction. That is, until this morning when I jogged on the beach, not up in Maine but down here in Florida. As I ventured forward, a small group of small shore birds attempted to stay ahead of me, which is not difficult to do since I am a very slow runner. I was able to watch them for quite awhile and was amused at their antics. As the waves would... Read More →

As is the case with most children in our neck of the woods, my parents gave me music lessons. I studied piano and clarinet from a young age and continued through college enjoying the richness music adds to our lives. My understanding of football and basketball are largely due to the many years of playing the clarinet in the various pep bands, not to mention the pit bands for plays and symphonic orchestras, too. Fast forward and the trusty clarinet became a distant memory for the next thirty years as I focused on career and raising my children. So when I came to Ruach in 2003 and they were excited to hear I played the clarinet, I was quite hesitant. So many years had gone by and it may... Read More →

I must have been almost the last person to hear of the controversy this week about Gillette’s “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be” ad. We don’t watch much TV and I am not on social media, so I only heard of the issue when chatting with my sister. If you live under a rock such as mine, you may want to check it out, but to summarize, at least from my perspective as a woman, the ad tries to move the viewer away from acceptance of unkind behavior by having us re-look at the phrase, “Boys will be boys.” No free pass for unacceptable behavior just because you’re a guy. Granted, I have a bias. We all do in every situation in life. Mine is obvious – I’m not a man. So with that as the framework,... Read More →

I was chatting recently with a friend who I admire for her ability to share how she hears from God. Sometimes it’s just sensing His intentions, sometimes it’s hearing Him in the way we as humans can. Personally, I am uncomfortable saying I hear from God. Truthfully, when I get thoughts for a Shabbat encouragement, or sometimes when I read it after it is written, I feel the inspiration is definitely from Him and not from me. When the synchronicities occur that are often the inspiration for the writing, I know they are from Him. And yet, when I talk about these writings to others, I shy away from saying He speaks to me, or that they are from God. I don’t hear His voice, but I feel He is... Read More →

Cardio exercise is a great stress reliever. When I was juggling my job with raising children and running interference with an emotionally unhealthy spouse, I learned that a ½ hour jog could press my reset button to calm as if I had taken a medicine. The endorphins released are medically shown to have that effect. These days when I add to my jog Messianic Jewish music playing through my headphones and conversations with HaShem . . . well, the experience is transformative. This morning as I was breezing through the news I ran across a story of a woman about my age who thought she was 100% Ashkenazic Jewish, only to find out that the father who raised her was not her father. Apparently... Read More →

Last week I shared with you my Buckeye fever and disillusionment with what I had learned about Coach Urban Meyer. One of my readers who is an avid Buckeye fan helped me to see sides of Coach Meyer that were not the subject of the flurry of articles that only focused on his shortcomings, as is so often the case. I learned of his initiatives to help at risk youth and of his emphasis on core values, one of which is honesty. And yet, according to the report underlying his suspension, his honesty was what was called into question. Clearly forces at work in his environment caused him to not be able, at least on that issue, to do the right thing. It gave me pause as I realized how our lives... Read More →

Some of you may know that I’m a Buckeye. This means that I graduated from The Ohio State University, but to make the significance even deeper, I grew up in Ohio most of my life. So even though I’ve lived in New England for 16 years, I still watch with fervor as many OSU games as I can and go crazy when the Buckeyes win. For the uninitiated, the Buckeyes won the Big Ten Championship and are off to the Rose Bowl. As the OSU team enters the headlines again in anticipation of the upcoming Bowl games, so, too, have I read more about the team’s coach, Urban Meyer. For some reason I was under the impression he was a mensch (good person). Unfortunately, when he resigned as coach recently, some... Read More →

Last week we pondered the analogies between technological advances we take for granted and our abilities to believe in the unseen. The capacity for GPS to know our whereabouts is not unlike the omniscience of God. Relying on the unseen without full understanding is not unlike faith. We even saw bringing such sophisticated advances to our every day experiences as similar to divine Yeshua walking among us. Although the message’s point was that those who do not yet know God may be more ready to receive Him due to this environment, one of my readers opened the door even further. As she notes, what about all of us who do have faith and yet sometimes doubt? If HaShem hears our prayers, why... Read More →

When my grandmother was nearing 100 years old she would love to reminisce about her childhood, literally days of horse and buggies before automobiles were readily accessible. And yet in her lifetime man had landed on the moon, and then some! I’m not quite that old (!) but even I remember when not every home had a TV and if there was one, only the three major networks were available plus one public TV channel, all of which were “fuzzy”. The big thrill was if a show was in color instead of black and white. As a child, I had no idea how those programs could come out of that piece of furniture. It was magical, something beyond my comprehension, but, nevertheless, the experience, and my... Read More →

I really never know week to week if there will be a new Shabbat encouragement. Yet they seem to happen. Often something will occur earlier in the week that will prompt a message to share. I typically write it at that time, when moved by the experience, and send it on Thursday evening. Sometimes it seems there won’t be a message if nothing has inspired such thoughts by Thursday, but that rarely happens. Until this week when at least by Wednesday evening it seemed nothing was coming to mind. Then this morning it did, and in the most “random” of ways. I was unable to find an email I had sent last evening with an attachment I had written over a year ago on a Messianic Jewish topic. At the... Read More →

Thanksgiving arrived this year ahead of schedule. Well, not really, but it sure seemed to be here on the heels of Labor Day which followed so swiftly after the 4th of July which was a blink after Memorial Day, and so it is. . . Life is so precious. Personally, there are loved ones in my life who are struggling with illness, even a recent passing, which only bookmark tangibly how each of us are in this Book of Life for a season. It is on us each day to make it count, not only in the ways we choose to live our lives, but also, in how we spend our time with others. Cherish those around you for we are meant to live in relationship with others. Living lives of mutual blessing calls to our... Read More →

As “noted” in the Simon and Garfunkel song “Sound of Silence”, “Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again,” silence is palpable. Last week we saw the power of silence. It can bring us peace and meditative creativity. Or if used deliberately or carelessly by another to ignore a need or shirk a responsibility, silence can cause our minds to go to some dark scenarios if we don’t recognize the dynamic. We pondered the times when being silent can be good, to not give voice to negative replies rather than be pulled into a negative interaction. In contrast are the times when silence keeps us from speaking up for much needed change. We thought about the power of silence in... Read More →

Quiet is good. There are times, actually many times, that I thoroughly enjoy silence. Or perhaps the rhythmic tap of light rain on the roof can add to the feeling. Add a puppy or two and a fire in the fireplace. . . No doubt most if not all of my creative times come in these moments. Even when I’ve been previously inspired by Messianic music while jogging, the actual act of writing happens when my room is quiet, meditative, empty except for what is to pour forth. Yet there are times when silence has just the opposite effect. Recently I had asked a person a question and no response came. A day or two passed. Then a week. During that time frame my mind went from not thinking about it to... Read More →

I wanted to share a few thoughts with you about this past Shabbat’s deadly attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. First and foremost I want to encourage us all to pray. Let’s pray for the grieving relatives and friends of those whose lives were taken: Daniel Stein, 71; Joyce Feinberg, 75; Richard Gottfried, 65; Rose Mallinger, 97; Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; brothers Cecil Rosenthal, 59, and David Rosenthal 54; husband and wife Bernice Simon, 84 and Sylvan Simon, 86; Melvin Wax, 88; and Irving Younger, 69. Think of the children of these, our brothers and sisters. Think of their grandchildren. Think of the Jewish community of Squirrel Hill – a community which will never... Read More →

What more can be said about the tragic shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh? All the truisms are there. These peoples’ and our lives are forever changed. Words of division must end. Greater vigilance is needed. Life is unpredictable and can change on a dime. Random acts of violence happen. Anti Semitism is worsening. We don’t live in HaOlam HaBa. We must live each day to the fullest. We are reminded of our need for HaShem. We can’t live in fear. It is events such as these that remind me that spiritual warfare is real. To me this is another truism. There is no doubt HaShem wins the battle. And yet our lives seem to be the battlefield. The struggle is between good and evil... Read More →

In the past several weeks we have been unable to avoid, and be drawn into, reports concerning the missing Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The story has unfolded with differing accounts of what happened. What is the truth? Although the stories keep changing about what happened, did the truth change? The stories around the story, and the various reactions, challenge us to think about what is truth. Recently in a discussion the comment was made to me that I don’t need to defend my religious beliefs with examples of truths, or proof, since I have faith. In actuality, the word “true” comes from an Old English and Germanic root meaning solid, steadfast, faithful, having faith. So... Read More →

Below is an updated version of an encouragement sent last fall. . . Aren’t the fall colors amazing? I just recently learned that the orange and yellow colors of our fall foliage are the result of carotenoids which are in the leaf throughout the growing season. The reason the leaf looks green until fall, however, is that chlorophyll is abundant during the growing season when the plant replenishes the chlorophyll. After the growing season in the fall, chlorophyll decreases, thus allowing the yellows and greens to color the leaves rather than the chlorophyll. Although carotenoids are present in leaves throughout the year, their orange-yellow colors are usually masked by green... Read More →

Earlier this week I caught on the evening news a delightful story. A motorist had hit a squirrel and apparently the little critter had glanced off of the tire rather than run underneath it (thankfully!) The coverage was from a policeman’s body cam video of the driver giving chest compression CPR to the squirrel, and we watched as it eventually revived and ran off into the woods. Listening to the young man discuss his feelings of wanting to help the squirrel, and the police officers moved by such a sight, reminded me of all that is good in this world. The juxtaposition of this story with the seemingly endless reports at that time on the Supreme Court nomination process helped to calm my... Read More →

Sid and I went tent camping this week with my sister Wendy and her husband David at Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. We actually discovered this place some years back when Sid and I would take the Camp Or L’Dor teens there for their outdoor adventure. Although we don’t challenge ourselves in the same way with long canoe trips, at our ages what we seek is just the experience of living outdoors off the grid for a few days to reconnect with nature and to enjoy relaxing in God’s majestic playground, especially at this time of year as the leaves begin their fall splendor. I must have my DNA checked with 23andMe.com or Ancestry.com for I enjoyed the camping trip (as did my sister)... Read More →

This week I discovered a movie that I highly recommend – “Victoria and Abdul” starring Judy Dench and Ali Fazel. The story follows closely a well researched book Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant by Shrabani Basu which describes the highly unusual relationship between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, a servant from northern India who was to serve the Queen during her year of jubilee in 1887, and instead for more than a decade until her death, became her Munshi, a close member of her inner circle as her confidante and teacher. The story details the exceptional nature of Queen Victoria’s attraction to Abdul’s intellect and knowledge of so many matters... Read More →

Each week I really don’t know what I’m going to share with you as a word of encouragement until it happens. There is usually a pivotal experience that occurs that guides me as to what the message is to be. This week, however, the most striking event that I knew was to occur did not seem to be one I wanted to discuss since I was struggling with it myself, let alone I could not at first blush think of it as an encouragement to others. Last week I reminded us that even when we make wrong choices, HaShem will use these to teach us and to help us grow in our walk with Him. My bad choice this week was that for reasons that are not really justifiable, but unfortunately are a reality, I was... Read More →

How do people do it? How do they survive with any essence of joy or peace in life without being part of a God-centered, Yeshua-centered, community? For those of you who do not have this option in the flesh, I understand and know that even virtual community counts. But for those of you with a local option available, such as Ruach Israel for those of you here in MA (and NH!), how do you not seek its comfort regularly? I so often write about eagles and beaches and the beauty I see. But my life is no more charmed than yours. I bleed like you do. I hurt like you do. As I drove to Rosh Hashanah services this week I was still reeling from a very hard week. Not only did the loss of our dear... Read More →