[Jewish] [Mindful Torah] Psalm for Sunday: Psalm 24, Verse 3

[Rabbi Steven Nathan]

Who may climb the mountain of the Eternal? Who may stand in God's holy
place?
We all climb this mountain every day, whether we know it or not. Our
life is the mountain of God, the journey upon which God has sent us.
Each day we face new challenges, reach new heights, fall down, get back
up and continue the journey.
The journey is a holy one. So, the journey is meant to bring a greater
sense of connection to the Divine into our lives in order to heal that
which is broken. So the answer to the first question is simple: all of
humanity.
That is also the answer to the second question as well. Every place we
stand on the mountain, on our journey through life, is holy. God's
presence dwells everywhere, however each of us chooses to understand
that. One way to understand it is simply to say that the capacity for
kindness, compassion, beauty, healing and serenity exists at all times
and in all places. That is what makes each place potentially holy. When
we realize this underlying truth and act upon it, then the holiness
becomes real.
When Moses stood at the Burning Bush, God told him to remove his shoes
because "this is holy ground." As I was taught some years ago (and I
cannot remember by whom) this is true everywhere. Every place where we
stand in any given moment is holy ground. We simply have to realize it.
At times along the journey of life each of us doubts who we are. We may
wonder if we are living up to our potential, we may be ashamed because
of a perceived failure, we may fall down and feel like we will never be
able to rise up and continue on. At those moments we may ask if we are
truly "climbing God's mountain," or if we even deserve to attempt this.
We wonder if we are really doing what we must in order to bring
compassion and holiness into the world or are we simply taking up space.
However, if we realize that we are always standing on potentially holy
ground and that each of us has the ability to tap into that holiness
wherever we are, then we can find the strength to continue on. That
doesn't mean we haven't made a choice or taken an action of which we
might not be proud or that we have acted in ways that bring hatred or
chaos into the world. It simply means that, in this moment, we connect
with the holiness and that means we can accept those things that we
have done, make amends and seek forgiveness where necessary and move on
so we can truly be present in the moment.
Of course, the one we often need to make amends to and ask forgiveness
of is ourselves. This is often more difficult than seeking forgiveness
from others! But if we remember this connection to holiness and the
divine. If we remember that, in spite of how we may feel about
ourselves in any given moment, we are but human, then we can hopefully
forgive ourselves and move on. After all, if God can forgive those who
have acted wrongly and truly seek forgiveness, then way can't we do the
same?
As we live each day moment by moment, let us remember the holiness of
the journey. May we find the Divine within as we make choices in our
lives. May we find the compassion within our hearts to forgive
ourselves and others of past wrongs. And may we find the strength that
flows through each of us, enabling us to face our challenges and to
experience the Divine - and share that experience - wherever we may be.

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Posted By Rabbi Steven Nathan to Mindful Torah at 5/09/2010 01:26:00 AM
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