Teshuvah Brings Blessings
As I prepare myself for Rosh Hashanah, including last evening's Healing Service at Village Shalom, tomorrow night's community Selichot Worship at Beth Torah, and reading over the prayers and their history, I become aware of just how much preparation I actually require for teshuvah. My physical nature constantly demands my attention: appetites for sure, but more than that: psychological demands: anxieties, fears, joys etc. Yet I know that meaning and purpose, essential to valuing life, are entirely spiritual. Last evening I encountered how being among the grieving, those who have lost and yet recovered to live fully, helps me aspire to wholeness. I witness how others, living with their grief in tow, nonetheless focus to live each moment completely. This triumph over despair, a choice we make, demands thankfulness. That gratitude actively blesses our lives, flows like the sefirot, for we know not only what is, but what has been and the tragedies that we imagine might have ensnared us. Therefore, I am led to thank God for each blessing, each escape from misfortune, each joy that crosses my path. I pray that I never again ignore a blessing that gratuitously comes my way, sanctifying my life. We live with such bounty surrounding us, giving us creature comforts unknown and unimagined by any previous generation. But much better are the loving, soulful embraces of those who are thanking God in that moment that we have one another in our lives.
As the New Year begins, I pray ardently not for more blessings, but that I may be fully conscious and appreciative of those pouring over me in every moment. It's wonderful to be blessed, but so much more wonderful to know, appreciate and acknowledge those blessings.
May 5775 be a year of appreciation for us all. Shabbat shalom.