Recipes for a Sacred Life: True Stories and a Few Miracles by Rivvy Neshama (best books to read for young adults TXT) 📕

There was my heart being touched when hearing from readers that the book inspired or uplifted them, gave them pleasure, or helped them heal.

And there were laugh-out-loud moments. Like in Pacifica, California, when I entered their sole bookstore, asked for owner Aaron, and proceeded to give him my pitch for stocking my book. It was only after he said “I think you want the Aaron next door” that I realized I was in a bait and tackle shop—which explained the lack of books and abundance of fishing rods!

Yet all of this happened, for me, in a time of sadness. For this was a year in which so many of my friends, family members, and heroes died that I almost felt the world—my world—was disappearing. It became a world without Nelson Mandela, one of our greatest teachers. A world without Reb Zalman, one of my first and constant spiritual teachers, who appears in two stories in this book. And hardest of all, a world without my beloved friend Sarah—who read every page of my book as I wrote it, who appears so spiritedly in its stories, and who died so bravely when her brain cancer returned.

In the midst of this, I gave book readings in twelve cities, and my normal performance anxiety was exacerbated by my sense of loss.

“They want me to be joyful,” I said to John. “And I’m not feeling joyful.”

They want me to be spiritual, I thought. And I’m not feeling spiritual.

But gratefully, I discovered I was wrong. All you wanted—perhaps all that is ever wanted—was for me to be real.

So I thank you for all you have taught me, for your loving feedback and support, and for showing me, in case I forget, how many good people there are in this world. And as Reb Zalman often said, “The only way to get it together is . . . together.”

With love and gratitude to all my readers,

Rivvy

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Publisher’s note: Thank you for reading Recipes for a Sacred Life. As an independent press, Sandra Jonas Publishing relies heavily on word of mouth to gain exposure, so if you enjoyed the book, please tell your friends. And we would be very grateful if you could post a rating and short review on Amazon and Goodreads. We look forward to your comments.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

If I ever won an Academy Award, they’d have to drag me off the stage. That said, here goes:

Deepest thanks to my first readers for their encouragement, faith, and invaluable feedback: Sarah Bowler, Barbara Fisher, Helen Turner, John Wilcockson, and Irene Feldman.

Lasting gratitude to my wise and wonderful agent, Kristina Holmes, whose strategic powers allowed her to tame the force of Mercury in retrograde to find us our made-in-heaven publisher, Divine Arts.

I am ever grateful to Michael Wiese and Geraldine Overton-Wiese of Divine Arts for giving me such a loving welcome and constant support. To them and to all the Divine Arts team—especially Travis Masch and Manny Otto, who helped in every way; John Brenner and Jay Anning, who made the book look so handsome; Ken Lee, who helped me navigate it all; and Matt Barber, my kind and word-wise copy editor—I thank you with all my heart for believing in my book and helping it to be born into the world.

And now, my book and I are delighted and excited to be under the wing of Sandra Jonas of Sandra Jonas Publishing. Sandra has been the guide and inspiration for this new edition and is paving the way to take it further. For all of this—and for Sandra—I am deeply grateful.

With great appreciation for those who walked me through this mysterious process: Hal Zinna Bennett, Jim Levine, Jenny Bent, and my many colleagues in Boulder Media Women who gave encouragement and advice.

And loving thanks to all who lent a hand along the way: Angela Bowman, Laura Marshall, Judy Feldman, Mary Benjamin, Bella Stander, Paul and Jeanne Visvader, Susan Feldman, Martha Griffin, Emily Spielman, Jody Berman, Lisa Trank Greene, Karen Wegela, Paul Hansen, Elise Berkman, Cindy Berkman, Roslyn Schloss, Danielle Poitras, Susan Rose, Celia Bockhoff, Zach Johnson, and Kimmerjae Macarus.

I felt blessed by those who endorsed this book early on: Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Marilyn Webb, Barbara Fisher, Ally Sheedy, Hal Zinna Bennett, Jay Neugeboren, Priscilla Stuckey, and Bryan Luke Seaward. And special thanks to Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnell for their inspiring book The Way to Start the Day; to Uncle Greg, Aunt Emma, and Uncle Bob, for their inspiration as good writers and good people; and to all the photographers whose pictures grace these pages: Jack Greene, Barry Berkman, Iván Loire, Stanley Lanzano, Mula Eshet, and Mary Frances Carmell.

I gratefully acknowledge my teachers who are featured in these stories: family and friends, neighbors and strangers, and all other seekers and messengers of truth.

Yes, yes, I know, time to end. So lastly, but most resoundingly, my thanks go to John, for everything. And I bow with gratitude to the Divine Spirit, from where these stories most magically came, and to you, dear reader, for whom they were meant.

ENDNOTES AND PERMISSIONS

I am grateful to the following for their inspiration and, where needed, reprint permissions.

Front cover: Family photo of Rivvy and her mother, Irene, in Miami, Florida, in 1947. Photo taken by Rivvy’s father, Bernie, who had just returned from Europe, where he served nearly three years as a soldier in World War II.

Beginnings: The “Find Your Highest Purpose” quiz was inspired by Marcia Wieder in her book Making Your Dreams Come True, Harmony Books, New York: 1999.

Part 1: Basic Ingredients: Photo courtesy of the US Army.

The Where to Begin: Recipe inspired by Deepak Chopra in his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Amber-Allen Publishing and New World Library, San Rafael, CA: 1994.

Grateful in Harlem: Ending quotation from Start Where You Are by Pema Chödrön, ©1994 by Pema Chödrön. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston, www.shambhala.com.

Miracles to Share: Quotes from Stand like Mountain, Flow like Water by Brian Luke