Many spiritual traditions contain a practice of blessing food prior to eating it. Christians, for example, say grace before a meal. This prayer more often than not thanks God for the food they are about to eat. Jews say a blessing over a particular type of food–one for bread, one for wine, one for cookies …
Practical Spirituality: Blessing the Food You Eat Read More »
It’s easy to get so caught up in our lives that we forget to pray or to connect with God. That’s why some of the major religions suggest set prayer times during the day. While some advocate for long prayer periods, short ones can help us remember God, connect spiritually and provide a great practical …
Practical Spirituality: Daily Prayer to Take Time Out for God Read More »
Starting today, about once a week you will find a practical spiritual practice here on As the Spirit Moves Me. The tip may come from the Jewish tradition or from other major religious tradition, such as from Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism. These practical spiritual practices are meant to be adaptable by anyone, and they also …
Practical Spirituality: Using Your Hands in Service to God Read More »
I write a blog about blogging a book into existence. (I’m actually blogging a book about how to blog a book.) So, I’m always looking for information on what types of blogs are being found by agents and publishers and turned into books. Today I found an article about an awesome blog that was found …
I turned 50 last week. Although I really don’t feel 50 and I didn’t have much psychological “stuff” around turning 50, I felt the need to mark this event in some way with a ritual. So, I asked a few friends if they might help me do so. The first friend took me off to …
It’s so easy to let the changes of modern day life eat away at tradition. Change happens, it seems, whether we like it or not. More often than not, however, we allow it to happen. I had reason last night to consider this. My family went to see Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein. I’ve seen …
I’ve been thinking a lot about teachers lately. In Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of Our Fathers: Chapter 1, Mishna 6, “Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Perachya says, ‘Make for yourself a teacher and acquire for yourself a friend, and judge each person favorably.” Leaving the latter part of this teaching for another time, I’ll focus on the first …
On Christmas Eve, I’m once again, like every year, struck by the wonderful example Jesus provides all people – Jew and non-Jew alike – of a human being who achieved full spiritual and human potential. (I wrote a short piece about this earlier today in my Examiner.com column, but I wanted to expand upon the …
Jesus Provides Model for Achievement of Spiritual and Human Potential Read More »
Just as the termites and beetles are consuming the wood on my house, life has been consuming me…or at least my time. I’m frustrated by the fact that work, kids (and their needs), physical therapy for my knee, and a variety of other things are taking up all my time and attention, leaving me little …
How to Stop Life From Consuming Me: Practical Spiritual Tips Read More »
Halfway through the Days of Awe, and we – I – turn contemplate the reason I’m here at all. What is my soul’s purpose? What am I supposed to be doing with my days on the physical plane, and, more importantly, and I fulfilling my soul’s purpose? Some people have a hard time discovering their …
To me, all sins come down to sins against God. If you believe a spark of Divinity exists in all things, then any sin you commit against something or someone constitutes a sin against God. Additionally, other actions are sins against our Creator as well. What might these be? They could be different for different …
In my San Jose Jewish Examiner column, I recently wrote about the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey. It reported that the number of American Jews who consider themselves religiously observant has declined by more than 20 percent over the last two decades while the number of Jews who consider themselves secular has risen. This survey, which included …
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