42 April 16, 2022

“Chag Sameach!” “Happy Festival!” to anyone celebrating Passover. “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who was observing the holy month of Ramadān. Many blessings to all, and especially to those celebrating or observing Holy Saturday, Lazarus Saturday, and/or Hanuman Jayanti! 

“Jackie‘s body was a temple of God, an instrument of peace.”

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–  quoted from Reverend Jesse Jackson’s eulogy of Jackie Robinson (October 1972)

What are the odds that 42 people would view this blog on the day (yesterday) that Jackie Robinson – number 42, for the uninitiated – broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball? I actually don’t know the odds, but it happened. Even though I had my reasons for not linking previous April 15^th posts to yesterday’s entry, my stats made me think about the fact that maybe someone would appreciate that amazing story. So…

Here’s a little excerpt from my 2019, when this April 15^th coincided with Passion Week: “In 2017, just a few months before my grandmother died, I watched a little bit of the World Series with her and my mom (her daughter). It was the Houston Astros versus the Los Angeles Dodgers and at one point my mother said, ‘I wonder which team your grandfather and great-grandfather would have been rooting for.’ Not thinking about the history of baseball in that moment, I questioned her question – after all, they were Texas men! But then my mother reminded me that the L. A. Dodgers were originally the Brooklyn Dodgers and that there was a time when “every Black man in America was a Dodgers fan.” Click here to read the rest of the post.

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Here’s a little excerpt from my 2020, when April 15^th coincided with Passover: “Can you imagine being the first to taste freedom?

I mean, it’s easy to think that there would be such overwhelming relief, gratitude, and joy. And maybe there was. But, there would also be trepidation. There might also be hesitation. There might be a little doubt that you know what to do or how to act. There might be some concern about the others who would follow you.

Can you imagine the first who knows the fear of having that freedom taken away? Can you imagine the attitude of the person who is first?” Click here to read the rest of the post.

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###“’One’s personal duty in life (one’s sva-dharma) should be viewed as one’s highest responsibility to his or her highest Self, the Atma.'” ~Krishna (BG 2.31) ###