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Sunday, May 10, 2009

What Psalms Share with Rite Aid

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Both Appear on Amsterdam in NYC, Between 69th and 70th

...with a Halal sandwich cart on the sidewalk between them. On the way to my last class of the semester on Thursday afternoon, I was stopped at a red-light on 69th and Amsterdam. To my left sat a sturdy, stone-cement synagogue with Isaiah 44:22 carved above the entrance in Hebrew: "Shuva elai kee ga'altichah"[/"Return to me, for I have redeemed you."]

The light turned green and I drove onward. Two days after seeing that message, just before waking, I dreamt I was alone near Teachers College on a Friday night and opted to go to services at a building across the street on Broadway and 120th; it featured a passage from the Psalms, too, the gist of which was similar, if a bit harsher initially, i.e., "You are a wretch, but you will be all right if you enter this building."

In the dream, I walked into the five-story brown-stone building with that message carved into it, and apparently, there was no Shabbat service. I walked all the way to the top floor of the building and entered a room that appeared to have hosted the rabbi and rebitzen (his wife) until recently; their clothes were in two separate piles on the floor, like they had slipped out of them and into something more Shabbasdik (Shabbat-appropriate).

In the center of the room, with its back to me, was the largest cat I had ever seen, lying on a table. It was just the cat and me in the room, and its striping reminded me of that of a skunk, only it looked mangier. Even so, I approached it and petted it and it began purring loudly. Its purring gave me comfort, and I woke up.

What message did God want to transmit to me? Spend more time with our cats? I'm never fully alone? Pay attention to messages, no matter how odd initially?

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