Kavanah January 2018
We count our lives by years
But we don’t live that way
We live for future moments
For deadlines, for parties, for anniversaries and travels
For raises, and for endings
For lovers, and for friends
We live in the past
Remembering or lamenting
Our projects, our parties, our anniversaries and travels
How long we haven’t had a raise, or why it was over
We long for our lovers and we miss our friends
If we lived by years
We wouldn’t be able to grasp everything
Too much time – Too much life
If we live only for future moments
We wouldn’t be able to grasp our now moments
Too much anticipation – Too much in front of us
If we live only through our past
Too much power given to it – Too much time spent on it
But to live our lives from week to week:
We can leave each week behind us
And we can look forward to the week ahead
We can yearn for the future
We can remember the past
But we don’t have to carry it much farther
That’s what Shabbat is for
To live our lives
With the meaning of yesterday
Informing tomorrow
And then next week
we visit our lives again
After only seven days
Where we have a new tomorrow
And today’s tomorrow
becomes yesterday