What do people of spirit do when feeling oppressed by the suffering of others? Often, they pray. And they pray often. This they do especially when the suffering happens far away and they feel unable to do much else.

Some divinity school students of my acquaintance feel deeply troubled by the war in Yugoslavia. Scenes of wholesale murder in a campaign of  “ethnic cleansing” violate their sense of human dignity. So do the heartrending images of refugees driven out of their homes with only the clothes on their backs.

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A great many people in American society spend much time caring for elder citizens who are in need. Professionals – – nurses, social workers, home-care aides, doctors, among others – – do so by reason of their jobs.

Family members everywhere – – wives and husbands, adult sons and daughters, daughters-in-law and sons-in-law and countless other relatives – – are also involved in the same task. They respond usually because they feel the force of blood ties and affection.

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Each year it is an event to which I look forward. Bob, a dear friend of longstanding, invites us to take part in a Seder. We gather, some ten or so in our community, along with Bob’s family members and a few other friends to celebrate the feast of Passover. Most of this community does not come from the Jewish tradition; nonetheless, the event holds deep spiritual meaning for us all.

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She lived three doors away on our short street and, at age 96, ranked as our most beloved neighbor. We all knew her as a woman who felt passionately about life and who approached daily living in the spirit of adventure. Always anxious to find out for herself what was real, she had a reputation for risk-taking.

In her twenties she lived in Paris and met James Joyce and his wife Nora. Maud also got acquainted then with Ernest Hemingway. Decades later, at age 79 she traveled alone to explore parts of Africa and returned changed by the experience.

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