Every day is a new day. The world is always moving and changing,
in small and large ways.
A leaf drops.
A baby is born.
A garden is planted.
An old house torn down.
Every day is new, the world is always changing. We might not feel it but those plates are shifting right under our feet. Cells regenerate without our notice. Healing happens right before our eyes, even if we are blind to it. And there is always decomposition too. Rot.
Every second of every day since the beginning of time.
This is the nature of reality.
Now sometimes. Some days. It feels like the ground is shifting in a rather rough and unkind manner. Rocking us. We very much feel the tectonic plates tearing at each other under our feet.
Tear down.
Tearing apart:
institutions,
relationships,
long held beliefs.
The wind seems to be blowing harder. Things falling and tumbling and crashing at a stunning rate. And it is hard to keep pace: spiritually, psychologically, physically.
This is one of those times.
The world around us is shaking and reordering. This is as natural as the rains coming in the winter and the dew in spring. This rumbling, this illness, this anger, this fear, these changes, these movements, these freedom yearnings are all part of life. To be expected. To be readied for.
God never promised the world would be stable, unchanging, predicable, without transformation and change.
That is not the nature of the Universe.
We seek stability and full control and knowledge of what will happen next. But that is not the true nature of the world. It never has been. It never will be. Evolution is at the center of all reality. We are evolving. Always. Tearing apart and reordering and restocking and renewing. And it is painful. And necessary. And just the way the world works.
Great great great great great great great great great grandma knew this.
Great great great great great great great great great grandpa knew this.
This is what our ancestors offers us moderns. They held onto a precocious inheritance to pass to us so that we might survive times like this.
Stories and rituals and community and faith-all to get through both the easy calm waters of life and also the raging storms. Both.
Judaism is a survival tool. It is a tree of life. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on to it.
It might feel unnatural to be wearing a mask, live in isolation from each other, close schools and community centers, watch once grand statues tumble into reflecting pools, people revolt in the streets, job losses and businesses shut down, people considering migration and so so so much death.
It is shocking. None of us knew what was coming when we sat together at the New Year, Rosh Hashanah 5780, and prayed for only goodness in the year ahead. And yet we had to know. In the recesses of our minds and spirits, that we pray for only goodness because of the ever present possibility of radical disruption.
Exile.
Illness.
Fire.
Floods.
Dictators.
Loss.
And more loss.
Every year we get a subliminal warning: gird your loins my people, it could get bumpy.
And bumpy it is. There are ups ups ups. And downs downs downs. Life is unstable. We hold onto Torah, each other and the vision of a better tomorrow to help us through.
THIS is why we practice Judaism. THIS is why we hold onto that which is both ancient and also ever new. THIS is why we strive to grow strong and stable within ourselves and our sacred community.
So that we might
endure
whatever
it is
that life
throws at
us.
So we can move forward towards the promised land. That place we WERE promised. Are promised. Forever promised. A better place.
A place of justice, peace and health. A place where all humans and the planet are honored. An Eden-like place where we live in harmony with each other and treat each manifestation of life as sacred, as a reflection of the Divine.
There is a Promised Land. Promised Land gives hope.
Promised Land is the light ahead.
Promised Land is for us to build. To do better when we know better.
Promised Land is the at the root of faith.
Promised Land is where we are headed.
Everyday when we recommit ourselves to living holy lives, to extending the hope of our ancestors forward-we are one step closer to Promised Land. We will
Walk
Through & Around
Chaos
Change
Struggle
Earthquake
Pandemic
Revolt
Reordering
Death
To get to the other side,
So that if not us, future generations, may know the blessings of
Peace
Justice
Health
Vitality
Compassion.
Every day is a new day.
The world is always moving and changing,
in small and large ways.
This is the nature of reality.
This our ancestors knew.
That the only way out
is through.
That keeping on
keeping on
is a sacred inheritance.
That we have sacred tools guide us : Torah,
Shabbat,
Community,
Holy Days,
Holy Moments,
Holy Relationships
May we never stopping walking forward.
Onward! Onward! Holy Nation. Holy People.
Towards the Promised Land.