A Yom Kippur Inspiration
About This World and Our Place In It
I took a morning walk this
past Yom Kippur. I take a morning walk every day, but there was something
special in the air this particular Yom Kippur morning. The day before, a storm
had blown through in the early morning hours, dumping a good bit of rain before
moving on around 11 AM. Clearing and sunshine rapidly replaced the grey skies
of the storm, but a sharp decrease in temperature heralded in a reminder that
Fall had arrived. On Yom Kippur morning, although the temperature remained the
coolest since last winter, the skies were still blue and sunny, with widely
scattered white clouds. A strong wind once again stirred, and the clouds were
whisking across the sky at an unusually rapid pace. It was in this setting that
I was taking my morning walk, and the following thoughts began to formulate in
my mind, spurred on by a recent video I had seen depicting the activity of our
solar system and galaxy as they course through the cosmos.
This world, this universe,
this cosmos in which we find ourselves is an extremely complicated mechanism.
Collectively, we have spent many lifetimes through the various disciplines of
the arts, humanities and sciences exploring and examining this mechanism in
attempts to better understand it, ourselves, our place in it, and to use it as
a medium through which to express ourselves. These efforts, these expressions,
are best served if we connect with the source, the foundation, the essence of
it all, from which it all has arisen and continues to arise in constant
process. There is a unifying source which is great, awesome, mysterious and
simple. It can be accessed, and such access provides us with the broadest and
best perspective from which to conduct our lives. To question or doubt our
ability to access this source would be akin to questioning/doubting the ability
of a fish to access the water in which it swims. We are all immersed in it,
totally dependent upon it, and interdependently connected through it. Our explorations
sometimes get us confused in the morass of the overwhelming detail and
complexity of this mechanism through which we function. That is why it is
important to establish, remember and retain contact with the perspective
provided by connecting with the simplicity of the origin, of the essence. This
perspective of simplicity is a great salve for our confusion. It is important,
and even necessary, to conduct our explorations and engage in our expressions
through the various avenues we have created. We possess an inherent impulse to
do so; it is what supplies us with inspiration, meaning and purpose. Musicians,
artists, poets, philosophers, scientists, mystics and people in all walks of
life engage and express in a manner unique to their chosen path or field of
endeavor. There is no end to such activity. However, it is equally important to
establish and maintain connection with our essence, the origin of our activity.
It provides us with stability, like an internal gyroscope, lest we wobble, spin
out of control and become lost. This is the crux to finding ourselves and
establishing the ability to lead productive, fulfilling, enjoyable and joyous lives.
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