An awe-moment

Today is one of ten days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, the first day of the Hebrew calendar year, the period know as the Days of Awe.  Another way to look at it… it is the last 10-days of the Hebrew year, when those in the Jewish faith offer forgiveness to all.  Can you imagine a world where all dissension and disputes are forgiven? Sure, it’s a choice. An everyday choice to forgive those who have wronged you.  But to have ten whole days set aside to remind you to go not one day longer without forgiveness.  And to have others hold you accountable to that edict!  That is powerful.

The act of forgiveness is the most wonderful gift you can give yourself in findingJOY.  This is not what I had planned to write about today, but somehow it seems relevant. 

I am not Jewish but I have cousins who are, and I’ve long had an appreciation of their customs and practices.  I love that the Jewish have named these the Days of Awe.  Because it is an awe-moment to feel the freedom forgiveness brings, like letting a deep breath out and letting the disappointment and hurt go with it.  The Days of Awe are also about introspection. A dedicated time to reflect on the prior 365-days, to rejoice in what went right and consider why perhaps things went wrong.  A time to forgive ourselves, as well as others.  Time for a new start.

Friend, let’s take today, September 27 for an awe-moment.

• Say goodbye to ingrained negative thinking.

• Forgive. If you feel the need, call up those who’ve wronged you—those who don’t even know your feelings have been wounded—and say ‘I’m sorry and I forgive’ (Yes, the first step is to take accountability for your part in the wounding).

• Let go of the past and embrace the future.

I’ve been wronged through the years and I continue to feel the weight of that hurt.  I still feel the sting.  In findingJOY, it’s time for me to let it go, for there can be no joy when there is resentment.  I’m taking that deep breath and having an awe-moment!

Wil you join me?

Lagniappe. Don’t let the sun go down today without forgiveness. The photo was taken of the sun setting on the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California last November during a memorable mother/son trip with a friend.

To my Jewish friends: Gut yontif (Wishing you a good holiday)!

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