Sometimes I take a photograph that is larger than itself. I am not a great photographer, I don’t have the best equipment, I do not often grasp the technical nature of it, but some photos reveal more than I saw, and in this photo, I was touch by it’s iconic nature, it captured for me the feel of the farm, the great and open character of my wife, walking among the sheep,closing her eyes to the wind, the hay blowing behind her in the wind.

I came into the house and started at the photo for awhile, moved by it and I picked up my book on the Kabbalah, the mysterious writings of long hidden  unknown Jewish mystics in medieval times. I love the Kabbalah, it is the first Jewish texts I have ever read that did not make me angry or disturbed. The Old Testament is an angry book. The Kabbalah is a beautiful and affirming series of writings.

The Kabbalah is about love and exploration, creativity and fulfillment. It respects women and cares about Mother Earth. When I opened it, as I often do for inspiration in the morning, I came to a passage called “Go To Your Self.” I was astonished that the book opened to this, it could well have been a caption for this photograph. I often think these texts were written by women, souls are always referred to in the feminine gender.

“God sad to Abram: Go forth. Go to your self, know your  self, fulfill your will.” In the Kabbalah, God and his angels do not threaten people with death and disaster if they disobey him, he urges his people to follow their creative spark and do what they love.

“This verse,” writes the unknown author, “is addressed to every person. Search and discover the root of your soul, so that you can fulfill it and restore it to its source, its essence. The more you fulfill yourself, the closer you approach your authentic self.”

This is our idea, the central idea that connects my heart and soul to Maria. We search every day  to discover the roots of our souls, so that we can fulfill them and restore them to their source, damaged by life and unknowing and oblivious people. The more we fulfill ourselves, the closer we get to our authentic selves. That is why we are here on this farm, that is what our life is about.

And I wish the same for every person reading this. Fulfill yourself.

When I saw the photo, I knew it was about something larger. I am not a deeply religious person – I don’t think of myself that way – but there is meaning in my opening a book and finding this passage just as I wondered what the photograph I took really meant. Now I know. That is a photograph of fulfillment. It’s as if God were talking to Maria, and she heard his command.

She has gone to herself, is knowing her self, fulfilling herself. That is what we are about.