Thursday, January 28, 2021 – 15 Shevat 5781 – Tu B’Shevat
Beshalach: Exodus 13:17 – 17:16
Tu B’Shevat, the Festival of Trees, celebrates the rebirth of life after the winter.
By observing Nature, religious traditions throughout time have uncovered ways of moving from one pattern of energy to another and from one season of life to another. This is often ritualized through festivals and celebrations. During the longest nights and shortest days of winter, when the seemingly dead earth comes back to blossoming life, there are festivals of resurrection and freedom. (Understanding, p. 95)
Friday, January 29, 2021 – 16 Shevat 5781
Beshalach: Exodus 13:17 – 17:16
The Israelites journey onward. They thirst for water, and cry out, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Life dances on the middle road that rotates between journeying toward and journeying away from God. (Strength, p. 155)
Saturday, January 30, 2021 – 17 Shevat 5781
Beshalach: Exodus 13:17 – 17:16
God brings Manna in the wilderness, and the people receive just what they need.
A Zen teaching shows us if you present a full rice bowl to the universe, it cannot be filled; if you present an empty rice bowl, the universe will fill it. Let go, release, relinquish, and stand ready to be filled by the Infinite Source. (Intention, p. 36)
Sunday, January 31, 2021 – 18 Shevat 5781
Yitro: Exodus 18:1 – 20:23
Moses builds an altar and names it “Adonai-nissi — God is my miracle!”
Create an everyday structure that can partner God and hold the wonders, splendors, and miracles hidden in the universe of your experiences. (Method, p. 26)
Monday, February 1, 2021 – 19 Shevat 5781
Yitro: Exodus 18:1 – 20:23
Moses’s father-in-law, Jethro, joins Moses at the mountain of God. Jethro, and later God, reminds Moses “Shema Koli —listen to my Voice.”
Meditation on Guidance
Pause a moment and sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor. As you enter a sanctuary of radiant light, you are greeted by a spirit who has awaited your arrival. This spirit has come to assist and guide you on your journey. Before taking the next step, pause, ask, empty, open, learn, and receive what you need to move forward. Thank the source of guidance and return refreshed and renewed to this world in which you dwell. (Strength, p. 146)
Tuesday, February 2, 2021 – 20 Shevat 5781
Yitro: Exodus 18:1 – 20:23
Jethro advises Moses to appoint judges to help him resolve disputes.
Expelling a lot of energy for a little gain? When you stop, you can economize by finding the one candle that can light all the rest. Then you have extended the light without blowing out your own fuse. (Success, p. 226)
Wednesday, February 3, 2021 – 21 Shevat 5781
Yitro: Exodus 18:1 – 20:23
“On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone forth from the land of Egypt, on that very day, they entered the wilderness of Sinai.”
When the Israelites were gone three months from Egypt, God asked them to recall the miracles and wonders of their passage. God had lifted them on the wings of eagles, and they ascended the upper realms. They remembered how, in the heavens, they were touched by holiness, showered in sanctity, and anointed as noble beings. (Strength, p. 162)
