Mystical Judaism has the belief that our souls return to G-d when we sleep and G-d sends our souls back when we wake. We have a morning prayer which begins, “Thank you, King, for mercifully restoring my soul to me.” The belief shows up in Christianity, too, and pops up in the children’s bed-time prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep….” I am sure that the belief is much older than either religion, since sleep looks so much like death and since dreams are so other-worldly.

What if your soul returns to your body one morning and doesn’t feel like doing much of anything? What if it shrugs your body on like a comfy old shirt? What if it doesn’t bother to button up all the buttons, to straighten out the collar, to check the mirror to be sure that everything looks right and proper? How are you doing today?

My wife and her siblings have created a web site as a publishing platform for his sermons and talks. Please visit Lester Start’s Works.

We do not know who is right, of course, but I am an optimist and strongly biased toward Updegrove’s view.

I believe that we live in a plentiful universe, that there is more than enough of everything to go around and our challenges are in distribution and not in production. We have, for instance, more than enough food to feed everybody; we just need to get the food from where it sits to the mouths of the hungry people. I believe that we are bright enough to solve this problem.

I also believe in the basic generosity of human beings. Innumerable projects have been accomplished through the donated time of unemployed and under-employed people. People with full-time jobs and plenty of money also donate their time, of course, but history proves that unemployment does not transform normally generous people into the selfish animals which Keen predicts.

Open source software is good for everyone. The programmers get to do stuff which they enjoy, learn new technologies, and bask in the warm fuzzies of seeing the works of their hands thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated. The companies which use open source software see lower costs and (hopefully) higher profits. And last but certainly not least, the people who use open source software get to enjoy a much wider choice of solutions to their problems than would exist if only commercial software were available. With all of this goodness in a naturally abundant universe, we are certainly going to see new bounties in the open source software cornucopia.

As with so many colloquialisms, I do not actually believe in this one any more than I believed Jesus was G-d when I crossed my fingers as a child; or believe that demons invade the body after a sneeze, necessitating the warding spell, “G-d bless you!”

So if I really really really don’t want something, and I want you to know that my desires are as unshakable as the existence of something absolutely indisputable, why choose hell as that something? I know: habit.

Since I do not believe in hell, and you probably do not believe in it either, let’s pick something else which we can unequivocally agree exists. And since we are going to invoke it at times of distress, why not pick something strong enough to withstand the stress, something unstoppable, something amazingly powerful. And, because four letter words are fun, let’s be sure that it has a four letter name.

Try this on for size: “I sure as love don’t want ____ to happen.” Sounds funny, doesn’t it? But think of something truly terrible and fill in the blank and say it out loud. Saying “love” feels better than saying “hell,” doesn’t it? You can kind of feel that love coming your way, just in case ____ happens.

Remember:
You’re not alone.
People care.
Sure as love.

Mary Chapin Carpenter just got out of the hospital after suffering a pulmonary embolism. Now, recuperating, she is climbing The Learning Curve of Gratitude. I found her article shortly after the shock of reading a friend’s name in the newspaper this morning: he lost his daughter and three grandchildren to a murderer’s rage.

Thank you, Mary, for inserting a bit of peace into my overly busy life. Today I will breathe, take the dog for a walk, savor the taste of my food, and be thankful for my family and friends.

It’s impossible to make sense of such violence and suffering. Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they’re gone — and they leave behind grieving families, and grieving classmates, and a grieving nation.

Why are these deaths so painful for us?

On the same day, about 116 people died in traffic related accidents. President Bush’s words fit here, too.

It’s impossible to make sense of such violence and suffering. Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they’re gone — and they leave behind grieving families, and grieving classmates….

…but not a grieving nation. Why not?

One of those 33 victims at Virginia Tech took his own life. On that same day, about 83 other men and women did the same thing. Again, President Bush’s words apply.

It’s impossible to make sense of such violence and suffering. Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they’re gone — and they leave behind grieving families, and grieving classmates….

…but not a grieving nation. Again, why not?

Yesterday evening, a 19 year old young man in my congregation took his own life. It is impossible for me to make sense of his suffering. He did nothing to deserve his fate. He is simply gone and he leaves behind a grieving family and grieving classmates…

…but not a grieving nation.

Why do we publicly mourn 33 deaths at Virginia Tech while ignoring the other senseless deaths in our lives? Why do we order investigations and ask tough questions about one situation and not all of the others?

Here’s a suggestion: take your feelings about a recent death and channel it for good. The next time you are angry with a loved one or a friend, remember that you do not know if you will see them tomorrow. Make peace. Love them now. And, God willing, you can love them tomorrow, too.

And then, reading a completely unrelated magazine article, I ran across this adage:

Learn from the mistakes of others; you won’t live long enough to make them all yourself.

How true.

I hope that I am always open-minded enough to learn from others, both from their mistakes and their successes.

At its root, chanukah is a celebration of the right for each of us to worship in his or her own way. Around 200 BCE, the Syrian king tried to forbid the practice of Judaism. The Jews fought back and won. This has come repeatedly to the forefront of my mind as I listen to NPR reports on the Iraq war and the American government’s reactions to 9/11.

It is awfully important that each of us respect the practice of others. I approach G-d in my way; you in yours. We share our non-religious lives and try to keep them neutral with respect to how to worship. Then when it is time to talk to G-d, we each gather with friends of like minds and have holy conversations that are completely fulfilling.

And now for something completely different. Turn up your speakers and click on the menorah.

I hope that this first day of chanukah brings you joy and appreciation for the freedom we have today.

At least three of the women in my life are battling breast cancer and one man has another kind of cancer. One person is getting divorced, two families are actively fighting with troubled marriages, and another person is struggling to marry and combine two chaotic households. One parent has a young-adult-child living at home again, after being released from federal prison.

On the mending side, one young woman just received a heart transplant and is still in the early stages of recovery. My cousin is recovering from Guillain-Barré syndrome. My brother-in-law is recouperating from a heart attack.

So right now I am acutely aware of some of the things that are going particularly well in my life. I wake up every day and go to sleep each night deeply thankful that I am married to my wife, that none of the people (two and four legged) living under our roof are battling major health problems, and that all of us get along well with each other. We have enough stuff to be happy and enough time to play.

Life is very, very good and we are all very, very blessed.

Samsung has partnered with Korea university and developed the machine-gun equipped robotic sentry.

Do you remember the scientists who worked on the atomic bombs and later regreted their decisions to do so? I am afraid that we are about to see history repeat itself. One of these days, an innocent person is going to be killed by an armed machine that fails to work right. Machines fail; it is only a matter of time.

When that person dies, who will be responsible?