191 - Pesach

We are asked to remember and retell at the Pesach seder. We are told “to tell your child on that day: it is because of what God did for me when I came out of Egypt.” Just as we were all present at Sinai, so all must have been present when our people left Egypt. How was it to stand, in that mass of humanity, before the waters of the Sea of Reeds, to be told to step forward, to believe that again the hand of God would prevail. May we all be privileged to taste not only freedom, but the experience of leaving whatever enslaves us. May God preserve us in our exodus.

One Hundred Ninety-One

Pesach

I hesitate before the rushing waters;
Show me the strength of faith.
Let me step forward
And find the surety of freedom.

Struggling with my infirmity
As a slave toils beneath the master’s hand,
I fight the lash of uncertainty
That directs my hours.

Release me from the habit of illness.
Release me from my narrowed world view,
A life shaded by pain and duty,
Wrung out of color and light.

Place my foot upon the waters,
And turn them to dry land.
Slowly I will make my way
To sing at the brilliance of the far shore.