Month: October 2026

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A Good Jewish Practice [Post #126]

Since my teenage years (in other words, a long time ago!), I have had a strong, deep interest in things religious and spiritual. My upbringing was not deeply religious, although when I was a kid, my family did attend church and I did Sunday School every week. But when our pastor changed and the new minister did not have a strong interest in sports, especially football, my father lost interest in having the family go to church weekly as was the custom, it seemed in the 1950’s. So, no church for a while for me, but then in my teens I had a “come to Jesus” moment/experience and had a renewed interest in things spiritual/religious.

So, from that point on I had an inquisitive mind on that realm of things religious. I went on to a Christian college after high school (I knew a few friends that were attending that college). I enjoyed studying religion and after college I went on to seminary for further religious studies. I really enjoyed that whole area of academic study and I continue today on that path of study.

So, I studied and explored the many world religions. I had an open mind, not a narrow perspective when it came to religious study. And I have learned a lot and have come to respect a lot of aspects of all religions. And, of course, there is a lot of what I see as “bad stuff” in religion. But to be honest, I do find good stuff in most religions that I have studied.

Which brings me to one of those good things I have discovered in the Jewish religion. It’s called the “Ethical Will.” Ever heard of it? It is becoming more widely known outside of Judaism nowadays, but it is a Jewish practice going back to the book of Genesis in the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament). In recent years even Barack Obama wrote an ethical will of sorts when he wrote a legacy letter to his daughters on January18, 2009.

An Ethical Will is something different than a legal will, an estate will that is common for dispensing one’s estate after one’s death. This will is written to transmit ethical instructions to one’s family and future generations. It’s not about dispensing property and material belongings but one’s philosophy and thoughts about life that one has lived. It may be similar to a memoir or a written biography to transmit one’s thoughts and experiences to one’s loved ones. In a sense, I often think of my blogs as sometimes being a type of “Ethical Will” in my relating my deep thoughts about life and love and relationships and spirituality.

I have actually written my own Ethical Will and have it filed with my “end of life” material such as my living trust and last will and testament. In fact, I am working at getting ready to revise or rewrite my more current Ethical Will since it has been several years since I wrote it. Not that much has changed, but I just think it is time to review and revise it.

I feel I need to have a current one since I am not a “family man” with offspring or much close family around me currently. At this point I don’t know if I will just hold it until I pass or if I will release it to family members before that time. But I do want to have a current one that explains my life as best as I can. My history, my dreams (accomplished), my spiritual values, my blessings and the loves I’ve experienced and the wisdom of my life experiences. I plan to have no regrets and no negative things to convey at the end of this journey. That would be a nice way to conclude this incredible life experience.

As I said, my blogging has basically conveyed most of these things, and I feel good about this. I am all in favor of people writing an Ethical Will. I think the Jews have an excellent tradition/practice in this regard. And like I said, this practice has expanded beyond Judaism in today’s world. Thank you, Barack Obama, for giving us an example of this ancient practice.

Wally

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My Theme in Life: Don’t Tell Me What I Cannot Do! [Post #125]

Living a long life causes one to reflect on many things that have shaped one’s life and perhaps even causes one to give one’s own life a “life theme.” Thinking about such things I realized that there is one thing that I could consider to be my life’s “theme.” Of all the things I have learned over the years (and there are many), I would say the most important thing, the one thing that has made my life what it is (a great, wonderful life) is the realization that I have always held to the strong, lifesaving, lifegiving total belief that “NO ONE can tell me what I cannot do!” Don’t you ever try to tell me what I cannot do, don’t you ever try to manipulate and control me, make me conform to some artificial standard that some particular group says is a mandatory requirement in life.

Early life (childhood) was difficult for me in many way, as it probably was for many people. At that stage of life, we don’t know much of anything, and we are being trained to be a good child (if we are living in a decent family). And that is great. We have to be brought up and trained in good, decent behavior. Yes, I’m all for that. And I was brought up in a decent manner. But as we go along and begin growing, things happen that we can perceive as good or perhaps not so good. I would say my basic childhood was good but of course there were times and periods when things could be rough in the family situation.

Oh, well, going along in childhood, there came a time when my parents took me on a trip from California to Florida which involved my first encounter with the experience of flying in an airplane, around the age of six or so. As soon as we were airborne, I had the thought (expressed in previous blogs, I know), wow, I am flying in the air. When I grow up I want to be a pilot. I turned to my father sitting next to me and told him and immediately he told me no, that is not going to happen.

Then I have mentioned previously how my high school counselor (ironically named Mrs. Hope) told me I could not take the English Literature class many of my friends were going to take and told me I could not take the class because it was only for students who were “college material,” and I certainly was not college material. Well, eventually I got her to allow me to take the class.

Then, one thing after another in the coming years continued this type of experience for me. People telling me what I can and cannot do according to their way of thinking. “You can do this, you should do this, but you cannot do that, do not do that! But I did not listen to such stupid advice, as I saw it. I went to college even though I had no real plans to until I was told I was too stupid to do that. I did get my many pilot licenses, commercial pilot license and flight instructor/instrument flight instructor certificates, advanced ground instructor certificate. I got employment with an airline, but even then I had to fight for that job. I was hired but before I started working I received a call from the woman who hired me saying she changed her mind about having hired me. She said I was overqualified for the job available since I was a college graduate. You see, the job available was for a “kitchen helper” in the flight kitchen where they prepared the meals for their flights. Once again, I had to fight aggressively to let her hire me in that position as I insisted I wanted to get in the airline business and didn’t mind “working my way up” from a low position. And yes, it was a low position. I actually started out as a “dishwasher” in the flight kitchen on the graveyard shift.

Well, over time I did make my way up to better positions in the airline. After six months I got my first airline free pass and took a trip literally around the world. I cannot tell you how that impacted my life at age twenty-six. I continued my airline career for thirty-three years. A wonderful work life. A dream come true.

Well, such things continued to happen during my life. I had dreams, desires, and I pursued them. I had an interest in religion and spirituality and I pursued those interests. I went to graduate school (theological seminary). I’ve gotten two ordinations and have done some preaching over the years. And yet, I still had the theme in my life that “you do not tell me what to do, what to believe, how to play by your rules.” I can think for myself and make decisions for myself, thank you very much.

Living this way has saved my life. Given me the life of my dreams. I cannot imagine living any other way. It would not have worked out. It would have been a miserable life. I do what I know I must do. There is a Spirit guiding me, of that I am sure.

Wally