I happened to be at Regis
University on Tuesday to witness my wife, Sue Ann, participate in her
oral comprehensive final exam in her quest for a Masters in Nursing
Leadership.
She was eloquent, elegant and profound. Her graduation day is December 17th. Nate, Noah and Hannah are all coming in for the event. I am so very proud of her and what she has accomplished.
As
I was hanging out (some might call it loitering) in the hallway
waiting for some of the procedural stuff to unfold, a holiday display
caught my eye. In the midst of the kinara (the candle holder for
Kwanza), the menorah (the lamp stand used in Jewish liturgy), and the
advent wreath (the circular, four candle pre-Christmas lights), there
was a dreidel.
The
dreidel is associated with Hanukkah (Festival of Lights), which is a
celebration of the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
The
four letters on the dreidel (transliterated for Microsoft Word) and
need to be read from the left to the right are (SH, H, G, N) or נ (Nun),
ג (Gimmel), ה (Hay) and ש (Shin), which stand for the Hebrew phrase
"Nes Gadol Haya Sham" (which means "a great thing happened there." The
"great thing" was there was only enough oil for the light to burn for
one day, but it burned for eight days.
Now in Israel the dreidel has a different fourth letter (which stands for the word "here.")
I like the notion of marking "great things" (as well as "small things") which take place because of miracles "there and here." Perhaps in the kitchen where food for friends, neighbors and strangers is made we should make a sign which reads "a great thing happened here." Maybe in the living room where forgiveness has been asked for and granted, a sign could be placed, "a great thing happened here." What might be amazing is that you and I take time today to move from a notion of scarcity to recognizing the miracle of abundance all around us.
When that happens, it's time to DECK THE HALLS!
Peace,
rtg
No comments:
Post a Comment