John Carrier

Last night I got an email confirming my volunteering gig at a local Ronald McDonald House.  I start in a couple of weeks and I’m going to be a “Housewarmer” once a week for three hours.  I could not be more pumped about this.

The quest to become a rabbi has prompted me to make a pretty thorough inventory of my life, my values, my commitments, and my priorities.  One area where I feel I really come up short is in doing volunteer work.  I’ve been studying a lot of scripture (I mean a LOT of scripture), studying Hebrew in order to study even MORE scripture, praying regularly once to three times a day, watching the “purity” of my diet, and getting better at doing less “work” on the Sabbath.  I’ve been plumbing the depths of contemporary theology and drafting essays about the key challenges facing Judaism and the Conservative Movement today. 

What have I left out?  Helping people.

Rabbi Robert Kahn gave a brief drash during a recent weekday minyan where he explored the beginning of the Amidah, a litany of blessings, requests and prayers of thanksgiving Jews are invited to recite three times a day.  The Amidah starts by acknowledging who god is: our God and God of our ancestors.  Then it says what God is: great and holy, and some other stuff.  Finally it talks about what God does, and the first of these is “doer of acts of loving kindness.”  Rabbi Kahn’s interpretation:  In this prayer, the first thing God actually DOES is acts of loving kindness…not creating, not plagueing, not smiting, but helping those in need of help.

 It is said that studying the scripture is the chief commandment among all others because it leads to all others.  It’s about time my study prompted me to act.  Stay tuned for the further adventures of John in Ronald McDonald House.

BTW, and this busted my myth, too:  Ronald McDonald House does not serve exclusively burgers and fries.

I think most people are wrong about love.  Statistically, that means you are wrong about love, too.

This is something I’ve been ruminating on for a while, but my initial desire to make a single, complete statement on the subject has prevented me thus far from voicing the essential kernel of the idea and simply starting a conversation.

The kernel, in a nutshell, is this:

There are two broad categories of verbs: Normal and Non-Continuous.  I won’t go into complete definition here but suffice it to say that Normal Verbs include observable actions…run, jump, vote, and wiggle.  Non-Continuous Verbs include abstract notions that cannot be seen…want, cost, care, and own.

My thesis is that the majority of people (henceforth: Group A) think of the verb “to love” in its Non-Continuous sense.  Group A thinks “to love” means to sense affection or attraction for someone or something.  I know I love chocolate because I get a good feeling (unobservable) when I eat it.

I (Group B) think that the full expression of the verb “to love” requires the kind of observable action that puts it squarely in the Normal category.  I love my wife by remarking on her fine qualities and making her coffee just the way she likes it.

Which is to say, “True love is completely normal.”

Furthermore, the more people who switch from Group A to Group B, the more observable positive change we will see, both on a personal and on a global level.  We need to stop loving humanity by feeling good about the existence of others and start handing out free rice.  We need to stop loving our children by crying when they don’t call and start loving them by getting involved in their lives so they DO call.

Who’s with me?

Who’s against me?

I have a lot more to say on this, but I’d like to hear other voices first.  Please leave a comment below, or better yet, take it up on your own blog and send me a link to your thoughts.