“We consider death as something that happens--or did happen, or will happen--to somebody else. but life is finite. We lease our minds and bodies for an indefinite term but with the sure knowledge that we cannot buy it out. And so, in the daily acts we perform, seen and unseen (but mostly those unseen), we are all writing our own obituaries.”
Marshall Portnoy, www.mlrt.org
During the month of Elul I reflected on who I’ve been and particularly on all I am grateful for. Today the month changes to Tishrei and begins the progression to the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. It's time to take out the trash. This afternoon I'll join others at a lake and symbolically cast my sins into the water. For the next ten days I'll consider the things I did not do, the deeds and actions I don’t want to review, the behaviors I want to change. It’s not a time to blame or defend or do mental gymnastics to look better to myself than I honestly do. I believe this reflection can lead to change and that it matters.
Baruch ata adonai...thank you for a year of blessings. You know who and what I am. Help me to be willing to know that too, not in a way that depresses me or makes me feel guilty and hopeless, but in a way that makes me feel stronger and more tender toward myself and my humanness. Amen
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