By Jack Levine,
The blooming of beautiful flora inspires us to energize and achieve new successes.
Tallahassee is where we’ve called home for the past 34 years. One of our local town slogans is “Where Spring Begins.” My wife, Charlotte, and I have established an organic raised-bed garden for vegetables and flowers which attract our beloved bees from their nearby hive to perform their pollination services and produce delicious honey.
Springtime also means March Madness for college basketball fans and “Hope Springs Eternal” for all of us baseball fans anticipating that first pitch in early April!
The celebrations of Easter and Passover are symbolic of what we hold most dear. Easter gives us the spiritual message of the power to overcome suffering, dedicate ourselves to faith, and celebrate the fabulous rebirth of life’s cycle. The saga of Passover focuses on freedom from oppression and the importance of faith and persistence in the face of adversity.
All religions strive to provide an emotional connection to life’s realities, and light a path for understanding our complex life voyage. My friend who practices Buddhism reminds me how all of life’s events, including death, are transformations into another stage of being. In Buddhism, Karma (from the Sanskrit for “action, work”) is the force that drives Samsara — the cycle of natural suffering, rededication and rebirth for each being.
Transitions are life’s crossroads. We are rooted in personal experiences and make important choices as we move forward. As a parent, I know how critical it is to carefully balance guidance and freedom, influence and acceptance. Who among us would not wish for more power to make decisions for others, especially for our children, but know we have limited capacity to do so. We can hope for the best, but must be prepared to respond to whatever events come our way.
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Jack Levine is a child, family and elder advocate and the founder of 4Generations Institute. He welcomes your comments and questions to Jack@4Gen.org
The Advocate’s Credo:
Thou art my child, my parent, and my elder,
I love thee best,
But could not love thee half as much,
Loved I not all the rest.