Going with the Flow

Newsletter February 19, 2024 Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

Isn’t nature amazing? The diversity of creatures on this planet is astounding. I took a trip to the California Science Center today and marveled at the jellyfish seen in this photo. My 7 year old asked, “Mama, are those real?” And of course he would ask that— they seem utterly out of this world.

I am amazed by the way they ebb and flow with the current and rise and fall with the tide. And I am amazed that though they don’t have a face, they are incredibly social creatures traveling through the deep ocean waters in a swarm. Fun fact: a group of jellyfish is also called a “bloom” or a “smack.” 

We have a lot to learn from jellyfish. The way they travel by being moved in life— like the 1200 year old rabbinic story found in the Avot de- Rabbi Natan about the cedar tree and the reed. Essentially, the reed proves stronger than the tall cedar because the reed can bend and not break in the wind, but the cedar is toppled. In fact, it is one of the reasons we are told that a Torah is written with a reed— to remind us of the power of flexibility.

How can we be like the reed and bend with the winds of change in our lives. How can we be like the jellyfish and go with the flow?

Sometimes we have to just accept what life brings our way rather than to fight it. Or at least to know when what we want is simply not for us. This is hard. It is REALLY hard. Because we have ambition and dreams and visions of the way things should be. And those qualities are good, but when ego pushes us to destruction or bitterness because life isn’t the way we had hoped it would be, that’s when we might remember the lesson of the jellyfish. 

I’d love to hear from you about how this lesson might connect with something that you’re going through right now. What are you having a hard time accepting? What have you accepted and are learning to live with? 

Together, we’re bending like the reed. Together, we’re #keepingitsacred...

Rabbi Heather Miller

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

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Thanks for your interest, and thanks for #keepingitsacred...