232 - Yom Kippur

This year, as we approach our holiest day, there is so much sadness. For too many, the decisions God made last year were wrenched apart by unspeakable human acts. Who shall live and who shall die? This must be God’s choice. Our task is clear. Our prayers and our deeds must work to repair the world.

Two Hundred Thirty-One

Yom Kippur

We stand as You count us, Eternal One:
You alone tabulate the outcome.
Yet we know You can reckon again
As You listen the to pleading of our hearts.

We are sojourners on a fragile planet,
Seeking to mediate chaos;
Eternal One, You perceive our struggle,
You support us as we search.

If we can gather the tiny fragments,
Picking shards of light from the rubble,
Our pleading becomes prayer,
Our prayer becomes action.

Number us once more, Eternal One,
Include our names for life
Before Your book is sealed.
We bow before Your judgment,
We trust in Your fair decree.