Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from November, 2010

What Gives Me Hope this Thanksgiving - a sermon for the Bethel Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

Honi and the Carob Tree [1] Honi the Wise One was also known as Honi the Circle Maker. By drawing a circle and stepping inside of it, he would recite special prayers for rain, sometimes even argue with God during a drought, and the rains would come. He was, indeed, a miracle maker. As wise as he was, Honi sometimes saw something that puzzled him. Then he would ask questions so he could unravel the mystery. One day, Honi the Circle Maker was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, "How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?" The man replied, "Seventy years." Honi then asked the man, "And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree?" The man answered, "Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildre

The Egg

Alert the media: I just ate an egg for breakfast. This earthshaking move was seismic in several ways. I'm always concerned with cholesterol; at my age, who isn't? So for the past lots of years, I've been choosing egg whites or egg substitute. I like those things because in addition to appearing virtuously healthy, I seem to get more product-size bang for the calorie/Weight Watcher point buck. So why an egg? For one thing, my nutritionist friend keeps screwing up her face in one of those "I don't get it" looks when I tell her that I don't do eggs. She insists that studies show that eggs - eaten in moderation - do NOT raise the nasty cholesterol levels. She assures me that the higher fat/calorie/ww points in one egg is more than made up for by the satiety and nutrition that the real deal offers compared to the things that get lost in the translation. Oh, yes - and quite frankly, a real egg tastes better than the substitute, not to mention that there ain'