Elul 5
When evil-doers come upon me to devour me, even my adversaries and foes stumble and fall. (Psalm 27:2)
When we attempt to make teshuvah, we become vulnerable and expose ourselves. What if the other person, or community, or nation, doesn't respond to our overtures? How do we tap into the essential element of the process, which is love?
I was reminded recently of a lyric from Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart: "Turn around, bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart."
It takes courage turn to look at what has caused us to lose our way, and even fall apart. It takes strength to change the things about ourselves that we can. But by working on ourselves, we might find a new way of viewing the other people in our lives. We might not be able to change someone else, but we can change ourselves.
The Ba'al Shem Tov said: "The determination to rise from every fall is what enables people to become righteous. Each of us, no matter how far we may have fallen, has an innate ability to become righteous by refusing to give up."
To do: Focus on pattern of behavior you were aware of this past year. If you find that you are berating yourself, try to redirect your thoughts toward ways you might shift the pattern. Don't despair of your actions, try and lift yourself up towards another way. Teshuvah, ultimately, is about redirection and rebirth, about loving yourself.
Retur to Elul Meditations main page
When we attempt to make teshuvah, we become vulnerable and expose ourselves. What if the other person, or community, or nation, doesn't respond to our overtures? How do we tap into the essential element of the process, which is love?
I was reminded recently of a lyric from Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart: "Turn around, bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart."
It takes courage turn to look at what has caused us to lose our way, and even fall apart. It takes strength to change the things about ourselves that we can. But by working on ourselves, we might find a new way of viewing the other people in our lives. We might not be able to change someone else, but we can change ourselves.
The Ba'al Shem Tov said: "The determination to rise from every fall is what enables people to become righteous. Each of us, no matter how far we may have fallen, has an innate ability to become righteous by refusing to give up."
To do: Focus on pattern of behavior you were aware of this past year. If you find that you are berating yourself, try to redirect your thoughts toward ways you might shift the pattern. Don't despair of your actions, try and lift yourself up towards another way. Teshuvah, ultimately, is about redirection and rebirth, about loving yourself.
Retur to Elul Meditations main page
