READING THE SIGNS
There are guideposts in the Torah, instructions to help us find our way. In the section called Va'et'chanan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11), we are told to listen: Sh'ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai Echad. Listen, Israel. The Eternal is our God. The Eternal is One.

Two weeks later, the instruction in Re'eh (Deut. 11:26-16:17) is about seeing: Re'eh, Anochi notain lifnaychem b'racha uk'lalah. “See, I put before you blessing and curse.” And it goes on to say, as do many of the portions that mention blessing and curse, that the blessing unfolds if you truly listen. The curse becomes real when you don't hear, when you don't appreciate the life that meets you. The curse awakens from following other gods, engaging in the idolatrous act of casting our own power out onto something or someone else. The curse is reflected in the fragmentation that results, a fragmentation that tears things apart.

The biblical statement above is presented in the present tense. Look, it is saying, at every moment I am giving you the choice. If you allow yourself to see, you will appreciate that I'm giving you the choice of blessing and curse all the time. But I can't choose for you.

It's the darnedest thing. If there were the kind of god we imagined as children, some kind of mythological super-human being looking down at us from above, I suspect that such a being would wonder, every once in a while, about this “free will” thing. Such a being might wonder whether it was such a good idea after all, since so much of the time we are unaware that we have a choice: We think the word presents blessed events or cursed events. We forget that our perception has anything to do with which they are.

On this level of reality, we can't avoid the challenge of moving into either an energy of blessing or an energy of cursing. Every time we open our eyes, every time we look into our world, the judgments pop up. We look at something and say, This is good; we look at something and say, This is bad; we look at something and say, Eh (otherwise known as a shrug of the shoulders). We have an experience and we feel fulfilled by it; we have an experience and we feel let down by it.

SHOWING UP FOR BLESSING
So, as we go through our lives, it appears to us that we don't choose to bless or to curse. We look at our children, or our parents, or our friends and say, “Look, if you would just do this differently then it would feel like a blessing to me…”

Only you know as well as I do that it doesn't work this way. And maybe the world functions as it does to give us the opportunity to awaken exactly where we are standing. The blessing is already happening—all we have to do is show up. All we have to do is be present so that the energy of blessing might flow through us, might flow as us.

So, first, tradition says, sh'ma. First, listen. And what are we supposed to listen to? That there's Oneness, that everything is connected. And after we listen, we're supposed to see, to see that in any given situation it is we that choose the blessing or the curse.

Then, in the following Torah portion, Shoftim (Deut. 16:18-21:9), we are presented with the remarkable statement: Tzedek tzedek tir'dof, normally translated, “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” But it is possible to translate these words as: “Justice with justice shall you pursue.” Namely, if you want justice you have to act justly. So if what you want is love the way to get it is by giving love; if what you want is gentleness, it is to be gentle; if you want respect, to give respect. There must be a harmony of means and ends, for they are one.

First listen, then see, then act. Most of us, most of the time, do it the other way around. We are called upon to learn to be more conscious in the midst of everyday living. It's the greatest challenge any of us can be given—for the hardest thing to do is to stay awake in the moment.

A SIMPLE TOOL
So here's a simple tool to help you increase your awareness during these weeks leading into the Holy Days. Get a blank index card and carry it with you always. When you reach into your pocket or grab something out of your bag, you will see this empty card and it will remind you that you are going to write your Book of Life for the next year. But not now. Not yet.

Now is the time to be aware that there is literally space opening up inside you—space to write that which has not been written, space to affirm that which has not yet been affirmed, space to create that which has not yet been created. Through the next month, as you find that empty card in your pocket, on your table, in your books, and as you contemplate it—listen. Listen. And see. And consider that which you would pursue.

You might spend some time allowing yourself to recognize the thoughts, rather than getting caught up in them. To watch the judgments, to listen to the inner voice of commentary, and to simply notice and move through each thought, every judgment, even the resistance you find. To step just a little bit behind the I's, as if approaching a deeper place of stillness, a deeper reservoir of silence. As if allowing yourself to be held in a greater consciousness, a Consciousness of deep compassion and unconditional love. And to wonder what it would be like to translate that greater awareness, that greater compassion, to translate that fuller love, through the thoughts, and through the feelings, and through the actions you manifest in your world.

And to be curious about exactly how that energy will reflect back to you in your daily life.

A PRAYER FOR THE JOURNEY
So in a moment of quiet, we open ourselves to prayer. Holy One of Being, help us become more conscious of Your Presence within us. Help us to become more aware of Your Presence within all others. Help us awaken to Your Presence that we might express Your love and Your compassion through our words, and through our thoughts, and through our actions. Help us hear and help us see. Help us choose that we might act in ways that convey deep blessing in our world. Help us share a journey from strength to Strength, from love to Love, and from life to Life.