42 - Steadiness

I’ve been trying to prepare my mind and my soul for the High Holy Days. Toward that end, I’ve been using the Internet, taking two courses on-line and reading other articles and sermons offered on numerous sites. I find I have trouble concentrating. One course, from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America on “Teshuvah as Worship,” has been particularly difficult, with complicated texts. It has caused me to examine my thoughts on the nature of “sin,” and on the healing that must take place so I can come before God on the Day of Judgment.

Forty-Two

Steadiness

Balance our days, Beloved Friend,
When we careen without plan
From task to task, from thought to thought,
Seeking right paths.

So many days we do not pause.
Rushing on, we lose our focus,
Forgetting the center of our being
Is contained within Your hand.

Like erratic winds, we swirl about,
Rustling all directions, turning dust to wraiths
Across this dry plain of responsibilities.

Running faster, calm evades us,
And the shattered fragments scatter,
Lost and tumbling along parched ground.

Pull around us, then, Your strong arm.
Halt our frantic motion.
Water this arid ground with living water;
Irrigate our thirsty souls.

Place our actions before us,
A rediscovered path to You;
Balance our days with Your regard,
Fill our tasks with holiness.