Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are now over, but what a journey we took together in our congregation in Sedona, Arizona! With a back drop of the red mountains, dramatic clouds gathering, men, women, children all making dissonant blasts on their shofars as everyone held their breath in suspense. Moment that brought us all to tears unexpectedly. Lovely harp arpeggios quietly playing under the reading of the names from the Yizkor memorial book. Not feeling the fast, all in white, suspended, angel-like in the chant of Al Cheyt, and Avinu Malkeinu, thoughtful time between services in the meditation garden with quotes, poems and questions fluttering, hanging from the trees. We put a seal on our "Book of Life" filled out with questions during the Ten Days of Awe about our year review and our new goals and dreams. May you be written and sealed in the Book of Living Fully...... Then, hugs and handshakes, and after the Break-the-Fast, we went home.
The next day a congregant expressed the kind of unsettledness I was feeling , still riding on the waves of the intensity of the Holy Days.... Here is her poem which she permitted me to share:
Next
Day
by Ann Metlay, congregant of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley in Arizona
The day after you've atoned;
After you sat
in an unforgiving chair,
and stood longer
on quaking knees
than you ever thought you could?
The day when you no
longer have to search
into the recesses of your mind,
looking for one more person
from whom you can ask
forgiveness? After the day you opened
your heart so wide you felt
angel wings fluttering through.
off the mountaintop,
and go on living. The day
you celebrate all
your soul work
by lounging in bed,
energized, yet in transition;
not even bothering
to get dressed.
miraculously settles over you,
ready to protect you
as you follow
your own path toward
God-promised land?
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