The eve of Yom Kippur is almost upon us and supposedly, we are to reflect on the year and ask him/her to forgive us for the past year and keep us safe in the coming year.
I don’t know about you but I always found this whole thing a bit scary. I mean to think that I have no control over my being and that someone is deciding on who shall live and who shall die? I am certain in my heart that if there is a God, She/He will understand those of us who are ambivalent. I am certain She/He will understand why we feel the way we do and why we can’t follow it all, the way we were taught too. I love some of the traditional flairs of Judaism, they warm my heart and make me feel united with the religion.
So although I don’t pray, beg for forgiveness or ask for a smooth year, I do in many ways take this time out for reflection. As a Jew, which I am every bit of, and as a human being. I ask myself, what is it that I can improve, not only in my life but in someone else’s? How can I make this a better place for me, for my children and for the strangers and friends who pass my way.
If I’ve put a smile on your face when we’ve met, I hope you’ll remember to put a smile on the next person you encounter. To those who celebrate the Jewish New Year, may you all experience a good, clean, safe and healthy year.
In the meantime, I’m headed for bed early tonite and staying under the covers most of tomorrow. I plan to lay low……….
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September 23rd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Is it our age or what?? I find myself asking many of the same questions. I love Buddhist philosophy, but because I was raised Christian I have embraced Quakerism because they have a much more open-minded approach toward all religions– i.e. every spiritual view is OK. Thus no preaching. And Buddhist philosophy. The Buddhist way to live life is not determined by an ancient text but rather by whether or not your actions promote well-being of self and others. This makes so much more sense to me, and I think is congruent with Judeo-Christian values. Like you, I still hang on to my Christian traditions and holidays because I’m rooted in them. But I’m repulsed by some of the hateful, narrow-minded, right-wing Christians I’ve met. I can’t go to church anymore. I don’t believe they even understand their own religion.