Monday, December 31, 2007

Poem for Monday

Ha'tzofeh Le'tovah (The One Who Seeks The Good)
By Rabbi Avraham Itzchak HaCohen Kook
Translated by Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein


It is the good that I desire,
Its glorious expanses entrance me,
Its lips, its roses, I kiss.
Its beautiful visions exalt me.

Absolute good, without limitation,
Without end, constriction or boundary,
That is not separate from anything alive,
That, with its love, koshers everything blemished.

Good for me, good for all,
Good without evil or severity,
Good full of pleasure for all,
Full of tranquility, without anxiety.

Good forever, good right now,
Good for every people and nation
Who seek the good and not the bad,
And the light and joy, as the One is there.

(Genesis: 21:17)

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I'm at my in-laws in Pennsylvania, where my kids are currently teaching my father-in-law to play chess with his Civil War chess set and Paul is watching some football game or other (the Redskins beat the Cowboys to clinch a playoff spot earlier, and that's all I care about). My mother-in-law is working on an itinerary for their England trip in the spring so I am discussing our favorite things to do in London and Bath while typing this.

Earlier in the day, on the drive up, we stopped at Boyd's Bear Country because it's closing for renovations for several months starting tomorrow; we were hoping they'd be having a big sale, but they were pretty wiped out of everything but leftover holiday merchandise and some of the seasonal animals -- I wanted to buy a little bear dressed as a devil, but it turned out he was part of a set and separated from his fellows.

















We went to dinner at Red Lobster with gift cards that Paul's aunt and uncle sent us and his parents for Christmas last year -- I had coconut shrimp and salmon, Daniel had crab legs, Adam had lobster tail, everyone is very full and content! Plus we exchanged holiday presents we missed over the actual holidays. Monday we are probably going to the museums in Harrisburg, depending on whether the rain stays rain or turns into snow overnight.

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