Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Sacred, the Essential and the Eternal



They are as close as breath and as near as an embrace. They are not in Heaven or across the great Oceans. There are here, besides you, around you, in you. There, in the corner partially obscured is a tower of blue chairs. There is what you have been looking for...searching. There in a stacked pile of wooden forms is a human hand, mind and imagination...creating something out of this world. No, not in a literal sense, not on Mars or Venus...here in front of you. In a pile of chairs. Here it is - all that is essential, eternal and sacred!

I am a Union Man




I attended the Hebrew Union College to study for the rabbinate. The word "Union" is expressive. It represents my personal connection with Judaism (unconventional and unorthodox). The term is used by those who strive to make that ultimate connection that brings one to Heaven's Gate, to the Throne of Glory. Here according to some is where the Divine dwells.

Of course, I have a different take on the matter. I have spent the creative part of my life exploring and discovering elements of the Sacred. And, I find sacredness in interactions, in poetic words, inspired and seemingly coming from outside of me and I see the sacred wherever I point my camera.

Every next step is a journey



Is realizing a great truth a religious experience?

I asked Professor Reines this question 40 years ago. Who were the individuals within the Jewish continuum who changed the paradigm of thought for the world? The answer was: Moses, Moses Maimonides, Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn, Marx, Freud and Einstein! This truth was accompanied by a racing heart, a pounding pulse and my hands trembled. The truth be told!

That experience - on the uncanny side - led me to the spiritual path, the visual path and to the path of many mystical encounters.