My Grandfather's Blessings

In My Grandfather's Blessings, Rachel Naomi Remen, a cancer physician and master storyteller, uses her luminous stories to remind us of the power of our kindness and the joy of being alive.Dr. Remen's grandfather, an orthodox rabbi and scholar of the Kabbalah, saw life as a web of connection and knew that everyone belonged to him, and that he belonged to everyone. He taught her that blessing one another is what fills our emptiness, heals our loneliness, and connects us more deeply to life.

Life has given us many more blessings than we have allowed ourselves to receive. My Grandfather's Blessings is about how we can recognize and receive our blessings and bless the life in others. Serving others heals us. Through our service we will discover our own wholeness&#151and the way to restore hidden wholeness in the world.

Autorentext

Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. has been counseling those with chronic and terminal illness for more than twenty years. She is cofounder and medical director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program in Bolinas, California, and is currently clinical professor of family and community medicine at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine.

Inhalt

My Grandfather's BlessingsIntroduction I. Receiving Your Blessings Blessing Wrestling with the Angel The Shell Game The Spice of Life Lot's Wife Having What You Have Letting Go Owning Keeping It Together At the End of the Day Remembering Getting Real What Matters Teachers Everywhere You Have to Be Present to Win Knowing the Heart Counting Your Chickens L'Chaim!II. Becoming a Blessing Getting It Right The Gift Being Used Seeing the Buddha Seed Simply Natural All in the Family Transmission Bearing Witness The Trajectory Holding On to the Heart Lost and Found Finding New Eyes Strengthening Life The Friend Wisdom III. Finding Strength, Taking Refuge The Meeting Place Pearls of Wisdom The Way Through Right Protection From the Heart Wholeness The Link Getting Clear Being Fed When Somebody Knows A Place of Refuge Coming Home In the Gray Zone Finding the Center In the Beginning Call Home Broken Promises, PromisesIV. The Web of Blessings Belonging Lifeline Learning to Serve We Are Enough Finding the Connection Breathing In and Breathing Out The Gift of Service Fellow Travelers The Laying on of Hands Choosing Your Battles Heaven and Hell The Wise Man How the World Is Made One Little Candle Greater Than the Sum of Its PartsV. Befriending Life The Game Knowing Life Loving Life Eggs Finding the Way When It Works Habit The Gift of New Eyes Making a Difference The Bottom Line Crazy Clean Integrity The Path A Matter of Life and Death The Mirror Who Serves? Beyond the American Way The Emperor's New Clothes Forgiveness The Gift of the Magi Completion CelebrationVI. Restoring the World Lineage Beyond Words The Final Patient Mystery A Question of Style On the Cutting Edge Mary After Dark The Thirty-six Finding Safety The Way It Is The Presence of God The Friction in the System The Reward The Real Story Acknowledgments Permissions