Today was Tisha B’Av, the fast to commemorate the destruction of the Temples in ancient Jerusalem. It is also seen as a day to mourn all brokenness, exile, and loss in the world, and to rededicate ourselves to sowing healing and love. At the end of the day I received this video with a moving chant and visuals to remind us of our responsibility to the ultimate temple, our home planet. I decided to share it on the Gateway of Seasons, for it is relevant every day of the year.
I’ve added a new pathway (post) on Winged Insects as Soul Symbols to the new and growing Gateway of Wings. I’m inspired by the beautiful butterflies and dragonflies of summer to ponder lessons of transformation.
I would love to hear back from you! Your comments on pathway posts and Sharing Circles means so much for making Wellsprings of Wisdom into a participatory community. I’m also happy to talk to you on Social Media, especially Instagram and Facebook. You can also email me from this site.
The Bible relates that King Solomon was known as the wisest of men. One verse suggests that he was able to converse about–the more-than-human world:
יְדַבֵּר֮ עַל־הָֽעֵצִים֒ מִן־הָאֶ֙רֶז֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּלְּבָנ֔וֹן וְעַד֙ הָאֵז֔וֹב אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֹצֵ֖א בַּקִּ֑יר וַיְדַבֵּר֙ עַל־הַבְּהֵמָ֣ה וְעַל־הָע֔וֹף וְעַל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ וְעַל־הַדָּגִֽים׃
He [King Solomon] discoursed about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; and he discoursed about the beasts, the birds, the creeping things, and the fishes.
I Kings 5:13
Although most commentators insisted that King Solomon’s communications were about nature, the Aggadah, Jewish legendary tradition, took it more literally: the King Solomon, in his great wisdom, could actually speak to the animals and plants in their own languages.
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The Gateway of Wings is gradually turning me into a birder! I’ve added some more of my original bird photos to the Gallery of Birds, and also started to organize the Gateway of Wings into its more finished form. But there’s a lot more to come this summer! Sign up with the form on the top of this page, to get an email when it’s complete. 
I had thought that connection to the symbol of feathers was my own idiosyncrasy, until I remembered the role that feathers play in two important Jewish traditions. Check out this new post on feathers, in the growing Gateway of Wings.
Today I added two Pathways (posts) in the new 
Gateway of Wings. I share my own perspective on meaningful encounters with birds through texts and photos. I also uploaded an Instragram post with one of my favorite videos that I took of a Great Egret in flight. Enjoy watching the Gateway of Wings as it grows.
When I get too wrapped up in my merely human concerns, all I need to do is to look outside my window or take a walk in the park to enter a different world, the world of birds that surround us everywhere. (In fact, I hear them chirping as I write this post). Here are a few of my favorite recent moments when I opened my eyes and ears to birds.
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Grackle amidst magnolias in my neighborhood, JHD
Today I was at a shiva (memorial) service and my friend, a rabbi, sang a simple, touching song that helps her keep her faith in the face of a difficult loss. “Be Like the Bird” inspired me and I decided to include it in the new and growing Gateway of Wings. The words of the song are from a poem by Victor Hugo.
There are a number of versions of the song on YouTube, including one with great bird graphics, but I quickly realized that someone had put that video together without getting permission to use the music and without crediting the performers. So I have embedded the original YouTube video of Be Like the Bird posted by the composer, and shared some of her story in the post.
I’m adding pathways (posts) to the new Gateway of Wings in no particular order, or should I say in the order of inspiration. When the Gateway (themed content page) is more or less complete, I plan to reorder the posts so that they create a thematic pathway through the Gateway page. But you can always explore in any order that interests you.
I’ve added a gallery of favorite bird photos that I took (mostly) at Rockefeller State Park Preserve–a birders’ paradise!
You’ll find it in the new and growing Gateway of Wings.
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