L’Chiam, (a Hebrew word pronounced le CHI yeem), offered as a toast, meaning that no matter what difficulty life brings, no matter how hard or painful or unfair life is, life is holy and worthy of celebration, that life itself is a blessing . . . (Rachel Remen)
Just to be is a blessing, Just to live is holy. (Abraham Heschel)
For Christmas several years ago, I received a calendar from my brother-in-law (a dedicated pastor) which delighted me totally, not just because it was full of glitter and glitz, and was a lot of fun, but because he “saw” me in a way that acknowledged and supported and even affirmed who I am and what I believe, no matter how different it may be from his own thoughts. The name of the calendar, created by Suzy Toronto, was Dare to Be Wacky — Live a Life Worth Loving. The different months were entitled things like: Make Your Life a Work of heArt; When You Stumble, Make it Part of the Dance; Rise by Lifting Others (no hot air required); Stop What You’re Doing and Start Living; Don’t Let Your Frame of Mind Frame You In; Some Days You Just Have to Act “As If”; In a World Where Bigger Is Always Better, Think Small! . . . The calendar goes on to advise and exhort us about ourselves with messages like:
Take a deep breath, let go, and LIVE. Live outside the box. Life is not just about the difficult big things, but about finding the simple things that take our breath away. These tender moments give our lives deeper meaning and sometimes become our most treasured memories, moments like nuzzling a newborn’s cheek and vowing never to forget that sweet smell. Or sitting on a porch swing with your grandmother and praying you’ll always remember her voice. It’s laughing at a silly joke between friends and hearing the echo of your own childhood giggles. It’s watching a parade with a lump in your throat and your hand on your heart as the vets go by. It’s waking up in the morning and really feeling grateful for one more day.
As I write, an old year is passing away, a new year is beginning. On each of our personal journeys, an old chapter is closing, and a new chapter opening. The choices that we make will determine to a large extent what words will be written on the pages of this chapter. While sometimes it may feel as if we have little control over the external events in our lives, we do have control about how we’ll respond to those events.
I’m not big on New Year resolutions, but just in case we wanna reach for the shiny brass ring of all New Year Resolutions, the ultimate New Year Resolution of them all, wouldn’t this be a good one? — That we will treasure each and every moment of our lives, knowing that it is the only moment like this we will ever have, that it is holy. That things like kindness, giving, sharing, loving, and caring matter. That, no matter how trite it sounds, we can be the change the world needs. That inspiring, uplifting, and empowering others is the greatest gift we’ll ever receive. That each of us can make a difference in someone’s life — and thereby change our own. That each of us can reach deeper inside ourselves than ever before to confront our doubts and fears and find our true Self, our true strength and courage.
My husband taught me that all good stories are redemption stories. In the redemption story of each individual — in the chapter each of us will be writing in this new year — in many different ways the tiny flame of love and awareness in our inner selves will likely somehow be challenged with extinction, and saved only through the humility and sacrifice of our being brave enough to keep it alive through our moment by moment choices. This is the ultimate battle between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ that is depicted in our stories, songs, and art, and in the personal drama of each individual life, no matter how seemingly ordinary it might appear.
Each individual life matters. At the end of his life, the psychoanalyst C.G.Jung continually stressed that only if enough individuals would commit themselves to this work, each of us undertaking the search for his or her own inner truth, and making the kind of choices reflected in the above “Brass Ring” Resolution, could the world avoid disaster. May it be so.