Makom Kavua

The topic of a "Makom kavua", a fixed place for prayer is one that I have noticed on a number of blogs recently. Those of you who are not MOT may not be familiar with this. And many of us who are MOT may not be familiar either.

And those of us who fell off of the derech may be familiar with it, but have not placed a lot of thought into it. In case you are wondering, I didn't fall off of the derech, I wandered off. Moshe Rabeinu stopped to consult for directions and I got distracted by a beautiful oasis. It turned out to be a mirage and since then I have been wandering a little bit.

For those of you who watched the tv show The Greatest American Hero you could say that my situation is a little bit similar to Ralph. I received this suit full of really cool powers and seem to have lost the manual. And now I am stuck figuring out how to make it work on my own.

As usual I digress. What I really wanted to bring out is that my almost 4 year-old son has taken the concept of a "makom kavua" and adapted it to meet his needs. At the dinner table you must not sit in his seat, or you risk his wrath.

In the living room you must not take his seat or you may raise his ire.

And in a restaurant he expects to be able to determine where is new favorite "makom kavua" is or he will issue a complaint that is loud enough for all in attendance to hear.

In short, he is a normal 4-year-old boy. But, I am the proud abba and I'd like to occasionally sing his praises. Although I mean to do it in ways that are real, honest and most definitely unWillie Loman like as much as possible.

In yet another side note, have I mentioned how blogging is a great way for me to think through problems. I have a couple of challenges I am working on at the office, and I always find that if I can push them aside and focus on something else for a while the answers come.