Episode 107

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Published on:

24th Mar 2026

107. A Passover Celebration- the Dayenu

Join Judy for an Easter, Holy Week and Passover Celebration practice of "The Dayenu" an ancient tradition, a jewish prayer that is a remembrance of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt sang on passover meal. Dayenu means "It would have been enough" This is not only the Israelites story it is the human story of us all. Discover how this practice of gratitude can increase your happiness, and rewire your brain to see the hand of God in your story of deliverance.

Transcript
Speaker:

Welcome friends to the Creative Spiritual

Journey podcast where Gia and I walk

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with you for just a moment and share

with you the joys we're discovering

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on the journey and things of our

heart as we follow the savior and

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hope to shine his light on the path.

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You know, it is my favorite

time of year Easter.

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And spring, and I'm so happy to be back

in the northern hemisphere where spring

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lines up with flowers and green grass and

buds and blossoms and birds returning.

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So in the spirit of this springtime

celebration and Passover and Holy Week

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and Easter, I thought it would be fun to

share with you a Daily Practice of Dayenu.

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What is the nu?

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So my first.

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Experience with this

was watching The Chosen.

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Do you love the Chosen?

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It's of Christ and his disciples,

and if you aren't familiar with it,

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you are missing out friend, and I

highly recommend you search it out

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and watch it from the beginning.

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There's five seasons and we didn't

get to watch it on our mission, but

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now we're catching up and so my first.

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Experience with this Nu prayer was

when the disciples are with Christ on

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the Passover supper and the say, this

prayer of it would've been enough.

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So I was so curious about the wording

of it that I called my, Hebrew friend.

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Everybody needs a Hebrew friend.

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This is Steve Tut.

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He's a Jewish convert a great man

who grew up with all the Jewish

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traditions and he has such a strong

testimony of his Messiah, Jesus Christ.

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And of course, Steve being the

sweetheart that he is, he emailed

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me over not only the English version

of the prayer, but also the Hebrew.

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So unfortunately I won't be able to

read that to you, but it begins with

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how thankful must we be to God, the all

present for all the good he did for us.

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Had he brought us out of Egypt and

had not executed judgment against

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them, it would have been enough.

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had he divided the sea for us and

not brought us through to dry land,

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it would've been enough for us.

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Had he brought us through to dry land

and not drowned our oppressors in

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it, it would have been enough for us

had he drowned our oppressors in it.

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And not helped us 40 years in the desert.

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It would've been enough for us.

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Had he helped us 40 years in the

desert and not fed us manna, it

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would've been enough for us had

he fed us manna and not given us.

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Shabbat.

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It would've been enough for us

had he given us the Shabbat.

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and not brought us onto Mount Sinai.

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It would've been enough for us

had he brought us to Mount Sinai

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and not given us the Torah.

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It would've been enough for us

had he given us the Torah and not

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brought us onto the land of Israel.

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It would've been enough for us had

he brought us to the land of Israel

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and not built us the Holy Temple,

it would've been enough for us.

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How much more so do we have to be

thankful for the manifold and the

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unbound blessings of the all present?

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God isn't that beautiful?

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So I was thinking about my Passover prayer

and The story of my father's deliverance,

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and at this same time I came across a

book of remembrance handwritten in this

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beautiful cursive is my grandpa Charlie.

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This is my mother's

father, um, of his history.

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He grew up in Birmingham, England.

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And he was raised in a large family that

was very poor and his father would take

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him to the bars and have him sing 'cause

Charlie was blessed with a beautiful

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singing voice and have him sing.

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And when his father would pass out, then

him and his mother would go through his

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pockets and his trousers and take what

money they could to feed the family.

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So he grew up in bondage of alcohol and

poverty and kind of a hopeless situation.

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When he was a teenager, the

missionaries of the church of Jesus

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Christ of Latter Day Saints found

him and brought him the gospel and.

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It brought him so much joy to have

that light come into his life.

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He married a woman named Laura, and they

had four childrens, two boys and the

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two girls, and she died shortly after.

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And so Charlie.

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Found a woman in the church which

was Emily, my grandma, and together

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they worked hard to save money, sold

everything they had to come to America.

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They had two more children, my mom

being the youngest of the six, and

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they came to America with what was

called the Perpetual Immigration Fund.

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It helped get them to America.

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The problem was, it was right in the

middle of the Depression and they

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sailed on a ship to Canada, rode on a

train to Utah and there was no jobs.

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And so they ended up working on a sugar

beet farm in Idaho to pay back some

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money that they had borrowed from the

missionaries that were in England.

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I labored there for 10 years and then

finally were able to move to Salt Lake

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City and be sealed as a family in the

temple And so I thought it would be

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fun to write my own Nu our Deliverance

of my father's and remember them.

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if he had delivered us out from bondage

of alcohol and poverty and had not the

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truth proclaimed by the missionaries of

the Gospel of Jesus Christ, die knew it

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would've been enough if he had the truth

proclaimed by the missionaries of the

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Gospel of Jesus Christ and had not brought

Emily and Charlie together in marriage,

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dae knew it would've been enough if he

had brought Emily and Charlie together

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in marriage and not given us aid to

journey to America the promised land.

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Nu, it would've been enough.

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If he had given US aid to Journey

to America the Promised Land and

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not given US a home and work in the

sugar beets, fields of Idaho, Nu, it

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would've been enough if he had given

us a home and labor in the sugar beets,

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fields of Idaho and not sealed us as

an eternal family in his holy temple.

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Nu, it would've been enough if he

had sealed us as an eternal family.

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In his holy temple and not carried us

into the land of Zion and still reaches

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out to us nu, it would've been enough.

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I know he is a god of miracles.

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I have witnessed his loyal untiring,

inexhaustible, and tender mercies

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that make us mighty unto deliverance

from any sin, any bondage.

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Nu Ah, that was fun.

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I invite you to do the same.

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Think about either your

ancestors, deliverance or your

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own, and write a prayer of Nu.

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I don't know about you, but my only

recollection as a little girl of what

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Passover even was, or Moses and the

deliverance of the children of Israel was

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the Charlton Heston, the 10 Commandments.

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They showed it every year at Easter time,

and we would gather as a family and watch

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the 10 Commandments, and I loved it.

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There's something powerful about noticing

that thousands of years later, we're

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still telling the same story because

liberation, gratitude, and hope are still

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the heartbeat of the human experience.

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So I was curious, how many times do

you think the scriptures reference the

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deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt?

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And it says over a hundred times

across the Bible in the Book of Mormon

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and the why it's a primary theme for

divine power and salvation, the Book

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of Mormon evokes this exodus pattern

frequently, particularly through

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prophets like Nephi Alma and King

Lim High to validate their journey.

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And their protection.

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So I want to share one of them with you.

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This is found in Alma 36, 28.

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I will praise him forever for he has

brought our fathers out of Egypt.

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He has swallowed.

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Up the Egyptians in the Red Sea and he's

led them by his power into a promised

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land and he has delivered them out of

bondage and captivity from time to time.

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And Alma knows that he will

do the same for his people.

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And I know that he'll do the same for you.

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I too have read all these

accounts and it just proves to me.

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That that is how God works in all

circumstances with all people.

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He delivers us from bondage.

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When we cry unto him, when we look to

him just start noticing how many times

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they refer to this story of Moses and the

children of Israel and their deliverance.

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Why do you think that is?

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I think it is to inspire faith.

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Encourage obedience, And to remember what

great things the Lord has done for us.

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When we remember we have an

open heart, it's when we forget,

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we get a hard heart, isn't it?

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Like they say, when you boil

an egg, it becomes hard.

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When you boil carrots, they become soft.

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They're both in the same

temperature of water.

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It's just how they react to it.

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So sometimes when we are in bondage.

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We become hardhearted, we forget,

but when we remember, we become

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softhearted and then we can remember

that the same thing can be done for us.

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That's what's so intriguing to me

about this story living on and on.

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I think it is the story of us our

humanness 'cause we all have in

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Egypt, we all need to be delivered.

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And we all need miracles, and we all

have a promised land out before us.

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So, as I said.

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For thousands of years, people have

told the story of the Israelites

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being delivered from Egypt.

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As Christians, we see the story as

a foreshadowing of our savior, Jesus

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Christ, who delivers us out of bondage,

of sin, death, fear, shame, and places

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sometimes where our hearts get stuck.

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Maybe it's better said

that our brains get stuck.

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I get stuck in a loop.

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Do you at negative thinking, and maybe we

need deliverance from this negative loop.

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And this brings me to the

science behind the nu.

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Modern science that is now discovering

what faith communities like the

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Israelites and the Christians

have practiced for a millennia.

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That remembering and naming and giving

thanks for moments of delivering

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actually changes our brain chemistry.

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It actually rewires us,

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and this is what science

calls neuroplasticity.

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It's the brain's ability to rewire

itself based on what we pay attention to.

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When we focus on gratitude, the

brain strengthens pathways associated

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with peace, hope, and resilience.

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Doing A practice of Gratitude daily

actually increases our happiness by 25%.

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It can help increase the

endorphins in our brain.

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the feel good centers, the reward

center to where we sleep better and

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we have a happier outlook on life.

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Deliverance isn't just a

story of exodus of Egypt.

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It's an ongoing work

of Christ in our life.

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I want you to think a moment

of your personal Egypt.

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Maybe it's anxiety or

exhaustion and overwhelm.

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Maybe it's the pressure to be perfect.

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Maybe it's the quiet ache of

feeling alone or feeling not enough.

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Christ delivers us in ways that are

sometimes bold, but most times subtle.

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A softened thought, a moment

of clarity, a breath that feels

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easier today than yesterday.

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The Nu teaches us to

say if he had only done.

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That one small thing, it

would have been enough.

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What's beautiful is that

gratitude doesn't just acknowledge

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deliverance, it amplifies it.

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I love the phrase that gratitude, and

appreciation reinforces anticipation.

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So if we're collecting daily these

thoughts of gratitude and where

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we're seeing the hand of God and the

miracles, it gives us hope for more

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to come because we're collecting

evidence where the natural man, our

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natural brain, is to collect evidence.

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In the negative of things

that went bad for the day.

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Because your brain has a negative bias.

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Did you know that?

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That we just naturally go around

collecting the bad things that we did

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for the day and beat ourselves up.

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We naturally remember what went

wrong more than we remember what went

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right, and that's just a survival

tool of our ancestors to remember.

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The poison varies, I don't know, but we

are just wired to collect the negative.

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I also wanna share with you just a recent

experience that I had in really society.

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We open up with a counseling session

for five or 10 minutes where we share

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with each other the things that are

weighing on our hearts and mind.

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Shared with our sisters a little

video called Finding Strength

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and Relief in Jesus Christ.

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This is from, , sister Dana Earl, years

ago she started writing down stories

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from her life where she had felt the

spirit and the influence of the savior

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where she had seen deliverance and

started writing down these stories.

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And gratitude for the day.

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And then she noticed something.

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it ended up being what she

called experience that she

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could carry in her pocket.

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So every time she came up against

something hard, she knew she had evidence

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of Heavenly father and the savior.

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Strengthening her, helping her and

that he, they would do it again.

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So here's what she said, quote for The

reason that I want to capture these

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stories and keep them is for myself as

a testimony and what I have experienced

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and for my children and my posterity,

but also to testify to my heavenly father

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that I saw him, that I saw and knew.

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I feel like some of them are like kisses

on the forehead that I felt it and I knew

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it, and I want to acknowledge that, and

so I continue to write them down so that I

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can acknowledge that I saw it and felt it.

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Isn't that beautiful?

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I began this practice in the year 2007

when President Henry b Irene taught about

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his experience of writing down and asking

himself at the end of the day, have I

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seen the hand of God reaching out to touch

us or our children or our family today?

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he said that as he wrote,

his doubt decreased.

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His faith increased.

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his happiness and hope increased

and his ability to see God clearer.

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I think we could all use that.

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Now, the Diano is a collective memory.

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President Irene's Journal

is a personal memory.

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Both are doing the same thing, though.

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They're preventing spiritual

amnesia because without remembering.

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Miracles feel random, life feels

disconnected, and that maybe you're

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alone in the wilderness because God

feels distant, but with remembering.

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This is our becoming,

stronger, becoming holier.

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And So for my Passover Easter spring

celebration, I am inviting you to join

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me, write each evening in a journal,

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First you write, what were the wins, the

things that you're proud of today, This

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could also be where you see the hand of

God, and three things you're grateful for.

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This can be the miracles that you saw,

the small and simple things, and third.

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Three hopes and wishes for your tomorrow.

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This will be what you hope

your promised land brings.

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Isn't that sweet?

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Isn't that simple?

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And I promise you that you will

begin collecting evidence and you

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will see it change your outlook.

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I So why write it down?

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Why can't we just lay in bed and think

about it because it doesn't have the

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power of the written word And capturing

those moments because as grand as those

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moments can be, those miracles, if we

don't write 'em down, we tend to forget.

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I think that is why this story of the

Israelites and the NU is so powerful.

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It has been spoken and written and

repeated for thousands of years.

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why bedtime?

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Because we go to bed with

these thoughts on our mind.

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It clears our mind and we awake.

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I believe with a happier spirit, a

happier soul, the dae knew was enough.

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It was enough.

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So when we are content with

what is happening in our life

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and collecting more evidence.

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Things will continue to grow brighter.

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I can promise you that.

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As you're gonna find, studies show

that when people reflect on moments

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of gratitude, relief, and comfort and

grace, the brain releases a dopamine and

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serotonin the same chemicals associated

with wellbeing and emotional healing.

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So gratitude literally strengthens

the pathways that help us

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recognize Christ's present to see

him in the world all around us.

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Researchers have found that writing

down three small moments of gratitude

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a day can reduce stress, improve sleep.

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Increase emotional resilience and

strengthen the parts of the brain

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connected to joy and empathy.

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It is as if your mind is

saying, let me hold onto this.

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Let me build from this.

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Gratitude becomes a doorway, and

through that doorway we begin

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to see the deliverance from

our Egypts in our real life.

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Every one of us is living

a story of being led out.

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Not just once.

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It's not a one and done, but

it's over again and again.

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Maybe today your deliverance

was a moment of peace.

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Maybe it was courage.

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Maybe it was a wisdom to rest.

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Maybe it was the strength to step out.

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Maybe it was a simply.

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To remember that you are loved.

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These are small daily steps of

NU that God is delivering you.

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And when you write them down, when

you name them, because it's such

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power, you're not just remember

them, you're reinforcing them.

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You're training your

mind to recognize grace.

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Faith calls it testimony.

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Science calls it cognitive reframing.

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Either way, I call it beautiful and

if you try it, try it just for a week.

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Try it as a Passover celebration and

if you could from now until Easter

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morning, just begin this practice

and see if your heart feels lighter.

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And then on that Easter morning,

see what rises up in you?

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Is it a new dawn, a new

resurrection, a new life?

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So tonight, this is how it'll look for me.

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I will open up my journal.

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I'll write down three of the

wind that I experienced today.

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Three words of gratitude, noticing

the miracles, and three hopes

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and wishes for my tomorrow.

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Because deliverance didn't end in

Egypt and nor did it end in the cross.

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It continues with you this

very moment in the quiet places

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where gratitude meets grace.

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Thank you Fran, for joining me

on the trail and next week on

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the beginning of Holy week.

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I will be sharing with you Anu meditation.

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If you know someone who would

like a Passover practice would you

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please share this episode with them?

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Gee, and I would appreciate that.

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And I will see you on the trail.

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About the Podcast

Creative Spiritual Journey
one small, deliberate step at a time
We are all on a journey—a journey home to our heavenly parents. Any experienced traveler knows there are days you laugh and days you cry.

We aren’t here to tell you how to live—we are here to share how we live—how we survive, thrive, and even find joy!

The journey gets messy with rainstorms and sleepless flights but the hard times—the miserable times—those make the best stories.

And the vistas, the sunsets, the little birds outside the window—those are the reminders that God is in the details, he is aware of us, he has trod the path before.

The Creative Spiritual Journey Podcast is hosted by Judy and Ghia Cooley—two sisters in their wisdom years—who love the savior and are dedicated to making this journey one small, deliberate step at a time.

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