The cycle of our days

Sunset from Kibbutz Gezer

ופרוס עלינו סכת שלומך

The Hebrew prayer Hashkiveinu, asks God to protect us throughout the night, that we may rise the next morning to life renewed, safe and full. The request, and the simple idea of asking God for something that isn’t even tangible, the guardianship of our soul, is an incredible one. We ask daily that good guard us, and in the morning pray again, thanking God for returning our soul to us, for allowing us to continue God’s work.

            The miracle of the morning is indeed incredible. Awesome, some might say. To me it surly is. Life is about each day, about the adventures we take and the people we will find. Who are we to take advantage of the time we have here on earth, to mess with the amazingness that is each one of us. Our unique qualities, combined with those around us, create daily blessings, ones we simply have to look for in order to appreciate.

            However, with each life, as with every thing in its time, the final moments arrive. Still, as Jews, we say Hashkiveinu in the evening and Modah Ani in the morning. Whatever opportunity is the last to be given us, we have thanked God for our souls, either for protecting them in advance or for restoring them to us. And in the end, there is thanks. Maybe not in that specific moment, but in some moment. We all matter. We all have souls, Nishamot, worth saving and protecting. We all need to remember to shelter ourselves, to protect ourselves, to nurture ourselves.

            Judaism teaches that if you save a man, it is as if you have saved an entire world. In this case, if you save yourself, you will save whatever might be coming next. Consider it. You too are important. You too are worth saving. Maybe prayer is not the way you need to do it. Maybe words and God are not your modus operendi. But whatever your way of connecting with the world, recognize, even for a moment, the power of you.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” –Marianne Williamson