Some eighteen months ago, the world hit a curb, and today many find themselves out of alignment as a result. A car by the way which is out of alignment, has the potential to end up in a ditch, and so do we. Though life has begun to normalise somewhat, the inevitable effects and impact brought about by Covid, has left many misaligned, and in ditches of their own.
For some, it has become all too easy to step back, rather than to begin again, to withdraw from society and community, as opposed to engaging with, and contributing to. The ditch of comfort as I call it, is the zone which some now find themselves in. But even as we end up in ditches, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur provides for us the process through which things can change and get better. That process is called “Choice
Towards the end of the book of Deuteronomy Moses frames reality for the people. He shows them the map and the destination and helps them see why they should choose this route, not that.
This is how he puts it. “See, I set before you today life and the good, death and the bad ….Therefore choose life, so you and your children may live.” (Deut. 30:15, 19)
Our lives are determined not by what happens to us but by how we choose to respond to what happens to us. So, as we enter the High Holyday Season, may we find the courage and strength to realign our lives and to make well informed choices, that will bring benefit to us individually and collectively.
Daniel
