Monthly Archives: June 2015

Choosing Love—by Ayala Emmett

Choosing Love
Choosing Love

This is a story of two people who have never met yet are forever linked. It begins with a farmer who loves his family and loves his land and has to choose.

There is hunger in the land. For a third year in a row the winter months bring no rain. The farmer looks at his empty fields, the parched earth, the barren trees, and the carcasses of starving animals. There is little to eat, and the farmer’s relatives who in ordinary times would be generous and giving, now hide the little food they have.

Old crops have been consumed, the markets are empty; there is no work anywhere, merchants have little to sell and few can afford to buy. read more

My Mother’s Legacy—by Barbara D. Holender

I want to live one day longer than Dad,
she said, so I can take care of him.

When he died, she apportioned their treasures
among us. Don’t weep for me, she said,
I’m ready to go.

Her heart believed her, clenching repeatedly.
I was hoping that was the one,
she sighed, after each seizure.

But when her grandmother’s candlesticks
appeared prematurely in the house
of the designated heir,
she was not pleased.

And when a scientific study related
the consumption of coffee
to diseases of the heart,
I think I’ll drink tea from now on, she said. read more

A Matter of Time — By Cathy Harris

The baby is wailing, howling at the moon,
startling the stars with her grief.
The toddler pushes a book at me, and
the four-year-old doesn’t like the way his sandwich is cut.
I have failed miserably.
What of the glories of motherhood?

My mother laughs, kisses me, kisses them.
says, This is life.
messy, difficult – and beautiful.
Love them, teach them to be kind.
It will get better, it’s just a matter of time.

I go grocery shopping.
Marc throws his glasses – why not?
He doesn’t have words to express how he feels.
He is scared, he wants to go home.
I apologize to the other shoppers, to the clerk, to myself, for my failures as a parent. read more

“Be Our Eyes”: Moses’ Appeal to Yitro—by Matia Kam

Yitro’s burial place  in Druze tradition In Nabi Shu’ayb in the
Yitro’s burial place
in Druze tradition
In Nabi Shu’ayb in the Galilee

“Be our eyes” is Moses appeal to his father in law Yitro, asking him to accompany the Israelites on their journey to the promised land. Moses turns to Yitro with a heartfelt plea, “Please do not leave us since you know where we should camp in the desert and you can be our eyes.” This emotional appeal raises the question: why and how could Yitro a Midianite priest be the eyes of the Israelites? (Numbers, 10:29-32).

“To be the eyes” surely means to guide, to direct, but the fact is that the Israelites already had the presence of the pillar of cloud that “would guide them on the road” by day and the pillar of fire to give them light at night (Exodus 10:21-22). If the Israelites already had a day-and-night protective presence why would Moses ask for Yitro’s guidance? read more

Children of War—by Gertrud J. Lind

Aircraft World War II
Aircraft
World War II

I am one of them. “My war” ended for my town on April 10, 1945, though the country officially surrendered on May 9, 1945. I was approaching my 7th birthday that August.

What does it mean, the war ended?

No more enemy attacks, no more bombs raining out of the sky and trying to make it to a bomb shelter. Not much else changed. The economy was in shambles, buildings were in ruins, displaced persons were everywhere competing for much reduced housing. Food was scarce and few goods were available. The “black market” boomed with cigarettes as prized currency. read more

To Be Alive*– by B.J. Yudelson

B.J Yudelson  in her canoe
B.J Yudelson
in her canoe

Tennis, dance, swimming, paddling, gym workout, stairs—all my life I’ve been an active person, though the particular sport or exercise has changed from time to time. I wonder now, as my physical world has shrunk, if I am what I do. If so, there’s not a whole lot left of me.

Now, as cancer consumes my body and I have lost more weight than I ever intended, I ask myself: how identified are we with our bodies? Who are we when our bodies fail us? When illness—or accident or age—diminish our abilities, do they also diminish us as people?
No one today would call me the Energizer Bunny, as my sister and some friends dubbed me in the past. On the other hand, I know that being fit has made the journey easier.
***
“Anything I can do to help?” I pose this question to my friend who is packing up to go home to Florida after almost a week’s visit with me. She faces her own physical limitations caused by various illnesses and a recent fall that resulted in a severely broken leg. read more