So, why did I post this quote from Rabbi Kushner's fine sermon? It's a long story. Let me ramble for a bit.
I haven't posted an article for a long time. It's not because I'm trying to come up with something original or unique. There's something to be said for re-packaging material which might be two thousand years old and trying to give it a creative tweak which might help or entertain someone. The more I read, the more I'm convinced that there's no new info in my area of interest (feeling better about things), only new tweaks.
I've definitely been in "read" mode rather than "write" mode over the past few weeks. What have I learned? It has become even clearer to me that there are strong commonalities coming from diverse traditions.
Let's look at the piece I liked by Rabbi Kushner. The phrase about learning to find God's fingerprints reflects a very common and important theme within the writings on self-help/stress reduction as well as many spiritual traditions. That is , the proposition that we can learn to change modes --- from what we might describe as an analytic "left brain" style to an intuitive "right brain" one.
We can always find another way to describe the same thing. For some, the diety metaphor is impressive, for others, the pop-science version. But it's the same idea --- an inner source of wisdom and joy, a higher type functioning which can be accessed, just by learning to sit still and listen. The message seems to be everywhere I look. How to get there is another story. But, the encouraging thing is that it looks like many people traveling several different paths (or paths which they thought were different) have reached a place which they felt was worth the trip. Shall we call this place enlightenment? How about 'feeling better about things'?
Your call.
