Passover

Here are some thoughts on Passover this year.

I had a good time at our family Seder, and then again had fun the second night with friends. As usual, I ate too much matzah and brisket. I enjoyed telling the story of passover to my kids. I was proud that my daughter could say the 4 questions in Hebrew. I had fun flipping plastic frogs across the table.

I really hope that my kids hold times like these in their memories as they grow up, and think warm thoughts when they reflect back on them.

But…

There is a cognitive dissonance that I feel while going through the Seder. I do not believe that there is a God, and therefore I don’t believe that he chose the Jewish people, he didn’t send plagues on Egypt and he didn’t split the Red Sea. These are all myths. Sure, slavery is bad, and people should be freed from oppression. That is a good lesson. But it bugs me that none of this stuff is true. Part of me realizes that it doesn’t have to be true, but there is a struggle for me.

A while back, I decided that I can participate in Jewish rituals and celebrations by substituting “the Jewish tradition” in place of “God.” I have found that this works most of the time for me. But I feel like I’m selling out at times. At other times, I wish I wouldn’t worry so much about this stuff and just go with the flow.

Anyway…Happy Passover!

Review of The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama

I enjoyed reading this book. Barack Obama writes in a very down to Earth way. I thought he was surprisingly honest when talking about his family and the way he thinks and solves problems.

I realize that this was a memoir written as part of his presidential campaign. It is basically his platform, and he goes through the various issues that at the time he anticipated would be the agenda for his campaign.

He is a liberal Democrat. He is not apologetic about this, nor should he be. The Conservatives have so vilified the liberals over the last few decades that this label is often publicly regarded as slanderous. He sees a role for government in peoples lives. He advocates for laborers and government regulation. But he also advocates common sense and compromise.

I was slow to warm up to Barack Obama as he ran for President, and I still have my reservations. I do not agree with him on every issue. But I do respect his integrity, his intelligence; His willingness to admit and learn from mistakes, and his willingness to compromise.

The thing that was most interesting to me as I read was his accounts of being a very busy working Father. Men do not have an Oprah as a sounding board. It was nice to see how he handled different situations and how he and his wife make it work.

View all my reviews @ goodreads.com.

Working on Christmas

It is kind of nice to work on Christmas.

Everything is a lot more calm and laid back. Only the essential people are there, and there were a lot less distractions. This morning, the freeways were very sparsely occupied. Tim Horton’s was closed, so I didn’t get my early morning coffee and donut fix. (it’s good to give your islet cells and your insulin receptors a break every now and then.) I was able to find a parking spot with no hassle. The staff were all generally in a good mood. Things went very smoothly. They were even giving away free lunch in the cafeteria to hospital employees.

The whole process was distilled down to the main objective, taking care of people.

Wouldn’t it be nice if this was how things normally worked? The multiple layers of bureaucracy serve only to weigh things down and cause unneeded stress. The competition and trying to prove yourself cause unneeded stress. All of the meetings and paperwork cause unneeded stress. Why do we insist on making things more complicated than they actually are?

The downside of working on the holiday was being away from my family. While I covered for my colleagues, they were relaxing at home and enjoying their families. I need to make sure that I take some time to do this as well.

Sitting quietly

Since my daughter had her tonsils removed several weeks ago, she has really had trouble sleeping. After trying every different approach possible, we finally figured out what works: staying in her room until she falls asleep. We just have to be patient. This has taken as long as an hour and half. The rule is that we will stay in her room after we read books, but we can’t talk with her once the lights are off. We just sit quietly across the room on the floor.

This is what I’m doing right now. The iPhone is a wonderful thing! Once she settles, I discreetly slip on my headphones. This has given me the opportunity to listen to several podcasts. My favorites have been “How Things Work” and “The New Yorker: Fiction.” Tonight I discovered that I can also blog!

Alright, it looks like she’s asleep. Maybe I’ll download the podcast that teaches you how to speak Spanish for next time!

Explaining black holes

Tonight, my 7 year old daughter was asking me about the black hole recently discovered at the center of our galaxy. It’s great that she is taking an interest in science. I want to make sure that my daughters both have an appreciation for math and science. First off, this will help them to be good problem solvers, no matter what they do. Second, the job markets of their generation will likely favor those with these skills. The other part of this, is that I had some difficulty explaining black holes to her. I know the basics, but started to trip up when she wanted more details.