231 - Shabbat Shuvah

When we gathered for worship Erev Rosh Hashanah, the words of the High Holy Day liturgy held a special poignancy this year. That the fate of so many had been cruelly sealed, not by Divine hand, but by the evil of man - it was more than we could fathom. Still, we have come again to our beginning, and to the time of contemplation. Now more than ever, we need to return to God, to find in ourselves the sparks of the Holy One so that we can continue the world’s repair.

Two Hundred Thirty-One

Shabbat Shuvah

Holy One, You do not hide from me:
It is that I stop searching;
I rage against misfortune,
Despair moves me further from You.

Turn me, Holy One, away from hopelessness,
Turn me, start me back to You;
Quench my thirst for tranquility,
Calming droughts of peace, Your living water.

Turn me to mending, my own healing,
Turn me outward to tasks of world healing;
Spread Your power above and around me,
Strengthen my steps as I return.