Category archive for ‘FAITH’ 
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I, Akeelah
So. My blog–and I–have joyed out lately. Not to mention Jewed out, compassioned out, and otherwise jumped for happy. And the lesson for me in all of that? That I don’t need to apologize for one sickeningly lovely moment of what, as it turns out, is the time of my life.
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Live and Let Live (But Only If You Live Like Me)
Last week, I was concerned my friends wouldn’t be able to accept the idea of me as a Jew-in-Training. But it never occurred to me that some of them might not be able to accept the idea of me as religious at all.
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Turning and the Teruah of Time
In the grand scheme of things, September 11th is just a day. Yet a day can capture eternity. The days since my 40th birthday have been among the most amazing of my life. I’m finally honoring the past to move forward. And I can’t think of a better time to mark the turning point in my journey.
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The Hypocrisy of Gays Chanting at Churchgoers
Last weekend, LGBT activists crashed Valentine’s Day services at Holy Name Cathedral to protest Rome’s stance on gay marriage. Is it right to demand religious tolerance by disrupting someone else’s right to worship? And why do my fellow queers care so much about a single religion’s definition of God anyway?
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“Nostalgia for samsara is bullshit…”
Yearning for the return of bygone glory days in a universe that’s ever-changing is a great way to lose forward momentum. Yet, I can’t help but ponder the first day of the last decade as I resolve myself to go a bit more gently into this one.
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Metta Message
Recently, I was reminded that I’m alive when an unexpected event stopped my mind long enough to realize the fact.
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Xanadu and the Meaning of Life
Buddhist dharma (and the teachings of every other religion I can think of) would suggest we all have an intrinsic nature of being beyond the mundane world we take for granted as reality. But as the price for coming to hang out on Earth for awhile, we forget our ineffable–or if you will, Divine–natures. We spend our lives never recognizing the true sum of what we are.
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Equal and Opposite
If only our friends and lovers could roll out the same patience we ADDers have to unfurl for them. Talk slower? Write things down? What do you mean we said that already? So what? We’re just trying to make a point! You understand us, don’t you? You are aware our behavior is due to uncommon neurological pathways in our brains and not because we don’t ‘try hard enough,’ right? Didn’t you know all of this came with the territory when you signed on to have an ADDer in your life?
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Your Own Personal Jesus
Traditional Judeo-Christian perspectives center around the idea of an external, omnipotent God, clearly separated from man and everyday life, at whose mercy we exist. And that’s why it’s so hard trying to explain my Buddhism to most of my friends.
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Third Time’s the Charm
This entry marks the (belated) third anniversary of CHICAGO CARLESS. As is obvious, year four is getting started with a lot of changes. The most obvious are the totally re-designed layout and features of the blog. But they’re only reflections of the most important change of all: my renewed outlook on my life and the world around me. Something had to give. After 37 years, what ultimately gave was me.
