Thru Other Eyes

Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, 2012 - My prayer

Tomorrow night, Tuesday night, the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement begins. A day to make final reckoning with our behavior and our relationships with the people and the world around us. One last chance to forgive and ask forgiveness from those we have hurt and those who have hurt us. One last day of fasting, prayer and introspection before God enters his final judgment in our individual Book of Life.  With great humility, we appeal to God for another year. Another opportunity. Another chance.

You know, seems like all three major monotheistic religions have these important and central holidays and/or rituals that focus on coming clean with our behavior and asking for, giving and receiving forgiveness. Those holidays or rituals when we honestly examine our behavior. Check out the bad stuff. Acknowledge the good. Committing to ourselves and to our God to do more of the good stuff. The Jewish version started with Rosh Hashanah, our New Year,  followed by ten introspective days of awe and finally culminating with Tuesday night's Yom Kippur, our Day of Atonement. For Muslims, I believe many of the same themes are present in Ramadan and in the holiday at the end of the fasting month -Eid al fitr. And for Chrisitans, there's confession I guess.

As I think about it, these holidays and rituals must either be...

Pesach - Its time to celebrate Freedom

Tonight Jews all over the world start celebrating the week long festival of Passover, or in Hebrew, Pesach. Although the holiday has many features, its primary focus is of course the story of how the ancient Israelite tribes become free from their slavery in Egypt. 

The Talmud, Judaism’s ancient book of law and philosophy, states with regard to the Passover Seder:

"In every generation a person is obligated to see themselves as if they are right now leaving the slavery of Egypt; as the Bible says, “Remember that you were a slave in the Land of Egypt.””  The Talmud’s description of the Passover Seder meal is not one of remembering the past but of reliving the transitional moment from slavery into freedom (emphasis added)." 

But what is ‘freedom’ and what are the implications in terms of responsibilities and obligations for people who enjoy freedom in a world where so many are still deprived of what we would consider the most basic human freedoms? 

Franklin D Roosevelt introduced a concept of four human freedoms that should be considered universal rights of every human being: 

1. Freedom of speech and expression
2. Freedom of worship
3. Freedom from want
4. Freedom from fear

Janis Joplin on the other hand sang, "Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose." 

Events in Eastern Europe over the past couple of decades and events in north Africa and the Middle East over the past months have shown us that individuals will face terrible dangers and personal risk to achieve their own freedom. To paraphase Janice Joplin, these people seemed ready to die for their freedom when they felt they had reached a point where they had nothing left to lose. 

Pesach is a wonderful moment to realize how incredibly blessed we are with the freedoms we enjoy. It is an excellent opportunity to consider all the people in the world who do not enjoy all, or any, of Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms.

It is the appropriate moment to rededicate ourselves to standing with people of good faith everywhere who are fighting for the most elementary freedom of self-determination or for any of the Four Freedoms. 

The mistake that we who celebrate the holiday must resist is limiting our focus and attention to an inner-directed and perhaps self-absorbed celebration of our own freedom, regardless of how grandiose an event it was when the children of Israel were released from their bonds of slavery.

For history teaches us over and over again, that we can not truly be free until all are free.

 

My Rosh Hashanah and Ten Days of Awe 2010

 Here’s a nice thought for us: “When the power of love is more highly valued than the love of power, we shall know peace.”

Maybe there is a god, one god. I don’t know. I do ponder the question though that if there seems to be One Rule above all others does there have to then be One Ruler? Because there certainly seems to be this one rule, that if practiced, would create what we would certainly call in common vernacular, 'heaven on Earth.'

“When the power of love is more highly valued than the love of power, we shall know peace.”

This past week the Jewish New Year began. Rosh Hashanah is the first stage in the Ten Days of Awe - ten days of spirituality, introspection, family celebration, charity, forgiveness, fasting and prayers in preparation of God's judgment which is felled on Yom Kippur. Also this past week Moslims ended the holy month of Ramadan and celebrated Eid ul-Fitr. Ramadan is a month of fasting, introspection, family celebration, spirituality, charity and prayer. Eid ul-Fitr continues all of Ramadan's themes but seems to trade the theme of fasting for the theme of forgiveness. At least that is a central theme of Eid il-Fitr from my experience sharing the Eid holiday with Muslim friends in Malaysia.

What always strikes me, especially when the holidays fall together or in close proximity to one another, is the incredible similarities between these two holiest of holy periods. The experiences that both holiday periods strive to create are on the same wave length and share all the same themes: fasting, charity, prayer, celebration and introspection. All for the purpose of spiritual renewal and forgiving and being forgiven.

My wishes for 2010

I want to wish each of you and all who are dear to you a most wonderful 2010! May it be a year of health, happiness, good fortune and spiritual discovery.

My wish for 2010 is that each of us will look inside, or as Micheal used to sing, let's each start with the 'man' in the mirror and ask ourselves, "How can I change in order to bring the change that I seek into my world?"

My wish for 2010 is that each of us will break free of whatever shackles hold us back from fulfilling what we truly want to fulfill, perhaps even what we are destined to fulfill.

Each of us know or at least I hope feel somewhere deep down inside, that when it comes to overcoming the immense challenges that collectively face us all, "what got us here, ain't gonna get us there." In fact, "what got us here" has created the threats and challenges we find ourselves now facing.

We are not prisoners of our past, not individually nor collectively. Nor are we prisoners of some dark side of our inherent 'human nature.' Things will always be the way they have always been only if we choose them to be. We each have experienced in our own lives and certainly seen in the lives of others, that the more cruel aspects of our 'human nature' can be overcome.

Whether we consider ourself religious, spiritual or just a simple collection of genetic material, we know from our own lives and from so many examples around us that love, caring, compassion and giving raise us individually and collectively to a place far removed from the self-destructive sides of our 'human nature.'

Don't look to others to start first. Don't look to others to be the 'leaders.' Each of us is a leader and each of us is a hero. But, only if we want to be and only if we choose to be.

Let's create a 2010 of peace, love, compassion and caring: in our own lives, in our families, in our workplaces, in our streets, in our communities, in our countries and in our world. Believe me, it is possible. But you have to believe it too.

I love you.

Thought of thanks giving

Today I am in the USA to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. The day inevitable leads to the question, "What am I grateful for?"

Oprah popularized the concept of a daily 'gratitude journal' which is a great idea but is something I do not do (although perhaps I will give it a try) and I suspect it is something that most people do not do. It is handy then to have a day like Thanksgiving when we take the time to pause and consider the blessings in our lives.

Today I feel grateful for all the love and friendship I have been so fortunate to experience in my life. In particular, I am grateful for the love and friendship I am privileged to share with that special person the universe has hooked me up with. But I am also grateful "to all the folks I've loved before..."

I am grateful for all the trials, tribulations and suffering the universe has placed on my path because it always has come with the strength, perseverance and most of all sheer luck to come out the other side a perhaps battered but surely more humble, compassionate and wiser human being.

But this year, perhaps I am most grateful that for whatever reason or with whatever purpose, the universe has helped me learn two powerful truths: "the greatest quality is seeking to serve..." and "to whom much is given, much is expected." Thank you universe and many friends and strangers who have helped me experience the power of these truths and for giving me the where-with-all to further explore what these truths will mean for my life.

Happy Thanksgiving. Whether you celebrate this holiday or not, where ever you are, I hope it is a day of love, friendship and gratitude for you and all who are dear to you.