à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Religion
Notes from a Liminal Space
Even though my body is still in Denver, I feel like I’m in a netherworld, between what was and what will be when I return from the Camino. It’s a wide openness I once feared but am now learning to inhabit. Suspending an identity is equally freeing and disconcerting. Yom Kippur, which ended tonight, amplified … Continue reading
Of Kugel and Catholicism
On Rosh Hashanah I attended an intimate, lay-led Kabbalistic service at a private home in Denver. I hadn’t expected food, but the hosts graciously supplied several bagel varieties, four different cream cheeses, coffee and juice. People were milling around when I arrived so I decided to have a bite. I placed half a sesame seed … Continue reading
Inspired or Insane?
Since “(in)sanity” is on the à la carte menu, it’s time to dish out a serving. Last month I attended the Wake Up Festival, a nourishing buffet of poets, gurus, meditation instructors, scientists, musicians, writers and yogis who shared their experiences on the process of enlightenment and practices to stave off “endarkenment”. David Whyte read … Continue reading
Do you live in possibility or fear?
I grew up in a family of news junkies. Even though we lived in Massachusetts, we religiously studied the New York Times, pored over the Boston Globe, and skimmed the weekly local paper. Later, the Wall Street Journal entered the mix for a more balanced ideological intake. My father had first dibs, and the rest … Continue reading
Violence is here, and it is us
More than 20 years ago, when I lived in Budapest, a ringing telephone woke me one morning and I stumbled across the room to answer. Disoriented and groggy, I lifted the receiver and through the crackling line heard my mother’s voice. She told me that one of my high school classmates and childhood friend had … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
Recent comments