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?