A Bar Mitzvah

It was an honor when our neighbors invited our family to their son's Bar Mitzvah.  I hadn't ever been to a Bar/Bat Mitzvah.  Ben's parents are great friends to us and love Conor and Megan almost as if they are part of their own family.  We equally love Ben.  Conor and Megan want to be exactly like him!  Ben's parents wrote the entire (2+ hour) Bar Mitzvah ceremony and it was rich and quite powerful.  One section of the ceremony outlined a set of values that they hoped, as his parents, to pass along to their son.  Under the value heading of "love yourself and embrace your uniqueness," was the following quote.  


~ by Marianne Williamson, adapted from A Course In Miracles:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small does not serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about playing small so that others around you won't feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine, as children do.  We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

It was a very uplifting ceremony and I'm so glad I went (thanks to a great friend who watched Conor and Megan --- they do sit through 3 hours of church on Sundays, but I didn't want to disrupt the ceremony when they asked for snacks!  ;)  ).  After the ceremony I picked up Conor and Megan, and what a party!  Over the top!  

Here we are enjoying our ice cream sundaes.  I will post more pictures if/when I get them from others who took photos.