Shabbat Inspiration with Diane

At my last Dance Kickboxing class for the summer one of my adult students shared with me a very disturbing piece of information about one of our neighbors. It related to an incident involving this neighbor that occurred 40 years ago that to this day she cannot talk about without crying. As I listened to her still fresh pain, I tried to juxtapose this description with my previously held opinion about this neighbor and found an internal struggle within myself to reconcile the two very different impressions of this man. I enjoy listening to others and feel blessed that others feel comfortable sharing their life journeys with me. Although often these are times of joy, there are many times... Read More →

Last week I had a debilitating headache. This has never happened to me before and was quite disturbing. The timing also lined up with some unusual stress, but also, with work I was to do to advance His Kingdom. I literally could not talk, or write, the pain was so bad. So needless to say, not much was accomplished. Also, I had plans coming up to go to Ruach, to a joint karate school graduation sponsored by my brother and sister representing a beautiful reconciliation for me, and then to see all my grandchildren together in one place just 3 hours away (one group lives in Denver). So much nachas (joy) coming up, and yet, I couldn’t get out of bed. As the weekend approached, I couldn’t... Read More →

Today I took my morning jog not at my usual place on the nearby beach, but rather, near my sister’s home in Westford, MA. She lives by a lake near a beautiful pine tree woods with homes nestled back from the road. As I was communing with my Abba to Messianic Jewish music per usual, one of the local residents walked toward me. I gave him a welcoming hello as I removed my headphones. His rather unwelcoming remarks were, “Is there a reason you’re trespassing on my driveway?” Not only did this comment take me by surprise but I looked all around me and I was clearly on the road and not in his driveway. Then he pointed to a sign with diagrams on it indicating that, in fact, he owned that part... Read More →

As you know, my Shabbat encouragement this week was to encourage each of us to expand our relationships with our Jewish friends and work together to bring more love into this world, starting first by breaking down the walls between Jews and Messianic Jews. As part of that idea I had resolved to contact the local synagogue with whom we had previously partnered to support Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger. So I woke up this morning and checked my emails. In queue was an invitation by the local synagogue near our home in Maine to join them this Sunday for a walk to support Habitat for Humanity. That email had arrived an hour after I sent out this week’s Shabbat encouragement. Sid and I have... Read More →

We have ruminated together about what a difference each of can make in today’s world. Focusing on this fact helps us to fight feelings of powerlessness as we catch up on the daily news. It seems like so much energy, and coverage, is spent on discussing our differences which most often leads to negative events or at the least, inaction. How can we come together to make a difference when our society seems to be at an impasse for progress? Perhaps it is all the more important that we recognize and act at the ground level, where we walk, and pray that such changes will percolate up to the gatekeepers and to our leaders. Would you sit in a room and not speak up if a racial slur were uttered... Read More →

I am a strong believer in our Abba’s sprinkling clues throughout our lives that lead us to the path He wants for us. The challenge is that we more often than not do not notice them. Part of our life’s journey is to become more aware of these moments, for the more that we do, the more centered we feel. We know that we are not in this alone. As we notice His Divine love drops, we can sense the preciousness of our relationship with Him and His being with us each day. Sometimes we are moved more deeply by an event or by nature or have a realization not previously understood. Some of these times involve timing synchronicities. A random person or place we encounter touches another... Read More →

I love when Passover and Easter line up. Although I know it is not exact, this year’s first night seder falls a couple days before Easter just as Yeshua’s last supper and his resurrection were within days of each other, the holy timing helping to bring us into the rhythm of these days as when He dwelt among us. As we partake of this holy meal we can more deeply experience what it may have felt like some 2000 years ago. . . At Passover we commemorate our freedom from bondage as slaves in Egypt. What a joyous time, Mi Chamocha! And yet, after that, we wandered in the wilderness, some never to even make it to the Promised Land. How similarly must the Apostles have felt after... Read More →

We all know how hard it is to find the inner peace we need to connect to HaShem when our lives are too busy. We also know that it’s a catch-22: how do we find inner peace without Him? Our Abba is fully aware of the challenges we must overcome, so He gives us help to remember that the only way we can really find shalom is when we feel His presence. That intimacy with the Divine is felt through our relationship with Yeshua. No need to enumerate the reasons for disconnecting. We each have our own tsuris (worry) and excuses. Me included. I’ve made great strides in setting aside time for regular prayer and Bible study. All good steps in the right direction. Yet inspiration, the ability to... Read More →

For the past several weeks I have not been able to write a Shabbat encouragement. I have always felt that I would not put a weekly expectation on myself about these writings, but rather, “when the Spirit moved me”, I would then have something to share with you. Since returning from our extended time in Florida, my life has been overflowing with challenges on multiple levels. Not to mention two months of mail, immediate tax filing preparation, and multiple medical and dental appointments, there have been financial and situational challenges as well. Lots of irons in the fire. So my neshama, my soul, my sense of centeredness has been diminished by life’s realities. Without that inner... Read More →

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 →