Monthly Archives: February 2011

Love and fear of God: Prerequisites to happiness

Posted on February 28, 2011 by logogroup

How is happiness a function of love and fear of God? Fear is an emotion of contraction; love is an emotion of expansion. The statement “I have enough” indicates fear of God because the conscious recognition of our limited ability … Continue reading →

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Fixing “earth”

Posted on February 27, 2011 by logogroup

To review, Happiness includes: a) Happy with one’s portion b) Happy with one’s obligations to God and man To be happy with one’s portion can be broken down still further into a) The conviction that what I have is enough … Continue reading →

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Happiness is both love and respect

Posted on February 25, 2011 by logogroup

There is much depth of meaning in happiness that we have to understand, and our book continued by repeating the same ideas only on a deeper level. In order to fully grasp the meaning of (a) happiness with one’s portion … Continue reading →

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Meaning in religious obligation

Posted on February 24, 2011 by logogroup

I want to share my ambivalence about a certain built-in difficulty I find in writing. The source of my ambivalence is that if I am writing personally there is going to be a link to my Jewish roots. At the … Continue reading →

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Logotherapy in a nutshell

Posted on February 23, 2011 by logogroup

If you are looking for a good summary of logotherapy, I recommend The Defiant Power. It’s kind of like logotherapy in a nutshell.

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The infinite in the finite

Posted on February 22, 2011 by logogroup

Some more thoughts came to me after writing yesterday’s post. Instead of rewriting it I thought to write an alternative version. Perhaps one day I will merge the two pieces. Two blessings in the Jewish prayer book have been a … Continue reading →

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In accordance with God’s will

Posted on February 21, 2011 by logogroup

In yesterday’s post I spoke about the blessing “You are a source of blessing God, our Lord King of the universe, who has made me with all of my needs” Another blessing is one that only women say: “You are … Continue reading →

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Needs and Doings

Posted on February 20, 2011 by logogroup

If I truly believe in God’s goodness, it will be perfectly clear to me that God does not shortchange anyone and I will know with certainty that with the powers that God gave me I can fully emerge as myself. … Continue reading →

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Understanding despair

Posted on February 18, 2011 by logogroup

In order to be released from the weightiness of despair we have to first understand it. The following are off-the-page comments of my friend and myself during the study covered in yesterday’s post. Why are grief, inertia and despair the … Continue reading →

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Accept what you cannot change; change what you should not accept

Posted on February 17, 2011 by logogroup

There is an old system (described by the well-known kabbalist Rabbi Chaim Vital) of assessing personality traits based on the four elements: Fire, wind, water and dust. Fire indicates traits relating to arrogance and rage. (We sometimes say someone is … Continue reading →

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