“Preschool in my Wisconsin town planted seeds in the sidewalk cracks.”
Credit: reddit user sunflower53069
For the past few years, I’ve been feeling grateful for all the moments in the Jewish calendar dedicated to renewal and rededication. Not because I think it’s important to believe or do certain things in order to be a “good Jew,” but because wrestling with Jewish values and teachings and playing with Jewish rituals have (at times) helped me stay present, deepen my understandings, and reconnect in an increasingly fragmented world. And I want more of that in my life – more focus, curiosity, and communion.
Most recently, Chanukah (which means Rededication) invited us to remember that even in the darkest times, it’s possible to find a little light. This can be applied to the biggest issues of our time and the small moments that trip us up in daily life. Indeed, finding the light, and being a light for others when we can, is tikkun olam, our innate drive to find the shards of light scattered around the world.
Barack Obama famously talked about this work (even if he didn’t refer to it as such) in his second Presidential victory speech: “Hope is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It’s not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it. Hope is the belief that destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by the men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.” (November 6, 2012).
Take a moment to think about things you did this past month to bring light to the world – both big and small.
Take another moment to think about something you heard about or witnessed where someone else brought light to the world – the awesome and mundane.
Secular New Year offers us a bonus round for reviewing and resetting our intentions. Last year, podcaster Mel Robbins talked about three categories for reflective action – things you want to start, things you want to stop, and things you want to continue. Too often, she argues, people just focus on the first category and then when they don’t follow through, they feel bad about themselves. I like the idea of committing to stopping something that’s not working for you or continuing with something that is helping you and others thrive.
This year, as our community is engaged in celebrating 20 years together and planning for our next chapter, I’m wondering how holding hope in one hand and intentionality in the other might help us. We spent much of the fall talking about our hopes for our sacred community. As we move into winter, we’ll begin intentionally setting new goals and designing a pathway to achieve them. I look forward to continuing the great work we’ve been doing and stopping what’s no longer serving us.