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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

A Day Off

Lord Christ, Lord Vishnu, and all the others of whatever name,
Let everyone in the world who suffers
Have a day off, putting their lips to the holy wine, to the holy waters.


I recently encountered this Mary Oliver poem that expresses just the feeling I have tried to name lately: the exhaustion of living in awareness of all the suffering in this land, and the need to simply retreat once in a while to mindfully witness the pleasures that make Jerusalem so special. It's my prayer for all those observing holidays this week; for Labor Day, for the end of Ramadan, for Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur. As we live through these tense times, let's take a moment to taste some really good olives. Let's slide our sandals along the ancient, polished cobblestone streets that have carried so many of our ancestors on their way to pray. Let's sing (or hum) a favorite hymn in a huge, empty church with out-of-this-world acoustics. Let's eat those yummy syrupy pancakes they only sell during Ramadan. Let's smell the roses, and pet the cats who live in the garden. Let us speak only peace, and really mean it.