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The Flow of Our Gathering Melody Lamentations Poem: War Well of Tears The Narrow Bridge Civilization is a spiritual practice. I lift up eyes The world is a very narrow bridge The Summer Ends. Well of Hope It is Rare to Be Born a Human Being The Narrow Bridge ......... We sit low, we sit together, at a time of profound loss and confusion. The mouths of our enemies have burst open against us. The trembling finger of a woman The house is cold and the list is long. All our names are included. Charles Simic The Well of Tears, a time for sharing. (We set out two bowls of water, one the well of hope - a crystal bowl with clear water; one the well of tears, a brass bowl full of water with a bowl of salt beside it) They were covered by a silk scarf draped over both. We uncovered the Well of Tears and read the memory piece which follows and then went around for each person to say who they are missing, what they have lost in their lives, what they are feeling. Freedom to pass and not speak was part of the opening instruction, some of the children chose to speak as well.) A neighbor told us: "Walking across the concourse, it was dark and dust so thick we couldn’t see, we held hands, many people across, it could have been a hundred of us, to make sure not one of us would be lost." The Narrow Bridge (We sang this slowly, holding hands around the circle) All of the world is a very narrow bridge Adapted from Reb Nachman of Breslov Civilization is a Spiritual Practice - a brief spiritual message from Reb Goldie Let our souls recall the Torah’s description of the day of the revelation at Sinai:
Will this be the shofar blast that created an international wake up call to become civilized together? Will Amalek, the concentration of the evil inclination, be recognized and dealt with instead of left to lurk and strike from the shadows? Will humanity prove able to create and maintain effective world-wide standards of justice and loving kindness? The original Torah values described in the story of the giving of Torah at Sinai is the basis of much of modern civilization. This is not obvious until something so horrible as the World Trade Center annihilation comes along and reveals what is possible in the absence of having such basic agreements about living. This is our time in the wilderness. We don’t often pause to think of what it was like for the Israelites to leave Egypt, cross the Red Sea and find themselves not in the Promised Land of their dreams, instead they must wander forty years in the wilderness. The road to Sinai must have been difficult on so many levels - survivor guilt, exhaustion, fear of further pursuit, expressing anger at God and wishing life could go back to the way it used to be. The Torah reveals an emerging fundamental survival issue for Moses and the traveling band of former slaves: how to live as free people without a system of governance or agreed-upon values. It was a time of knowing what you are not, a slave, and yet being unsure what it means to live as you have become: free. Albeit imperfect, today the most orderly, caring, effective society created in the history of the world has had its faith shattered. Now what will we do? We recognize the number forty - forty weeks of gestation in a pregnancy, forty days and nights of rain, Jesus’ forty days of anguished contemplation in the desert, the Buddha, sat beneath the bodhi tree for forty days before attaining enlightenment, forty years the Israelites spent in the wilderness. Wilderness time is a new chapter, a time of honoring our losses and feelings and beginning the long process of transformation.. It may take generations, indeed forty years perhaps or, given how long people live, multiple generations of encounter with the Torah of decency, so that we will again see a planet of fully open borders and renewed trust. All read together: Again we stand at the base of the mountain, listening and gathering guidance, recommitting ourselves to the cause of freedom and the recognition that freedom within holy guidelines is needed. Civilization is a spiritual practice. Rabbi Goldie Milgram Adapted From the Book of Psalms (We did this with hand motions, standing up together - it was a risk and surprising to find how appreciative so many different kinds of people were for getting into their bodies and embodying their prayer at this time.) I lift my eyes My help IV by Wendell Berry The summer ends, and it is time (Some people studied this poem together after the service and found many different and helpful interpretations.) The Well of Hope (Cover the Well of Tears, uncover the Well of Hope. Offer your blessing or wish for this time. Tale of a Neighbor "I was running from the site in high heels and as I passed a shoe store, a woman ran out and handed me a pair of sneakers saying, "put these on, you won’t get far in those." It is rare to be born a human being Adapted from The Three Kinds of Treasure Closing Message: Dr. Barry Bub spoke about mental and physical
health issues we all are dealing with during this crisis mode, and taught
about care of children and self. |
