George of Sylvania

Author: georgembenson

  • Welp… it isn’t much

    I took that picture on my way into work Monday. What a nice view.

    This week, I do not have much to say. The writers block has been very present these past few weeks, and it is what it is. It doesn’t help we said so long to the interim priest we have been working with for over a year, and everyone’s favorite staff member is on tour for the North American production of Dirty Dancing.

    So what is blocking the ideas from flowing? Well, we are less than a week away from another nightmare of a presidential term, and I am nervous for friends and loved ones. And if the confirmation hearing of Hegseth that occurred yesterday is a taste of what is to come…

    Speaking of cabinet picks, I will never forget when my wife and I lived in West Michigan, and the first Tr*mp administration had been going for a little while. The church we had attended the majority of the time we lived there was Mars Hill Bible Church, founded by Rob Bell. Bell had been long gone by the time we had gotten there, and the place was changing under the newly called pastor. Things started off well, but the moment Betsy DeVos, who had been the Secretary of Education for a few months, came over to me during the passing of the peace. She gave me the most uncomfortable hug I have ever had in my life, and while she was trying to make small talk, I just kept reminding myself that the person standing in front of me was a child of God. We left the church pretty soon after.

    The look on my wife’s face though, seared into my memory. One of shock, horror, and concern about what was going to come out of my mouth. I was in such shock at what was unfolding before me that I was pretty much frozen.

    Scraping the barrel but still showing up is strength in its self, and that is what I wanted to remind everyone of today. So, to close today, I want to offer up the closing prayer I lead every other week during the Wednesday intercessory prayer services. It was introduced to me by a dear friend who passed away almost a year ago called, The Coventry Litany of Reconciliation. Because it is me however, I tweaked a few things to make it more inclusive.

    The Lord be with you my friends, never forget you all are loved, and not alone during this dark time to come.

    An updated version of the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation:

    All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

    The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class,
    Lord, forgive.

    The covetous desires of people and nations to poses what is not their own,
    Lord, forgive.

    The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth,
    Lord, forgive.

    Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others,
    Lord, forgive.

    Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the unhoused, the refugee,
    Lord, forgive.

    The lust which dishonors the bodies of men, women, non-binary, and children,
    Lord, forgive.

    The pride which leads us to trust ourselves and not in God,
    Lord, forgive.

    Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

    In peace, we pray to you, Lord God.

  • Top books/series: 2020-2024

    Photo by Element5 Digital on Pexels.com

    I love books.

    Reading them, listening to them, or even collecting, it doesn’t matter. My office is filled with them, and so is our house. It has become a joke among some of the staff, and I have even been at bottom of a few jokes because of it. And you know what? I do not care. By nature, I am dyslexic, and I learned to read via comic books. In fact, I can tell you the first time I remember reading a word by myself.

    For Christmas in 1993 my parents bought me a box of comic books, and my life changed forever. I was already a fan of Batman thanks to the 1966 TV show reruns, but I did not know he was from another media. In that box was Batman 493, aka Red Slash, where serial killer Victor Zsasz take a few hostages and Batman has to rescue them. Well, one of the Gotham Police Officers that Zsasz… does… away… with… had my last name. That week before in kindergarten I was working with someone on spelling it out, and BAM! Right before my eyes, I see the name, I recognize what it is, and it was all downhill from there (except for reading, it took a long time for me to become comfortable with that).

    Over the years, I have spent many hours pouring over books of varying genres, mainly theological and non-fiction. However, in 2021 my wife urged me to pick up some fiction books, and I started to consume more of them. And since I’m one of the people that believes a decade starts in the year that ends in zero, we’re half way through the 20’s. With the over 300 books I’ve read so far this decade, here are my top ten books/series in no particular order:

    1. Operation Hail Mary by Mark Weir
      – Just read it. Incredible science based fiction. 10/10 no notes.
    2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
      – There is a reason why people love this book. I thought it was going to be overrated, but it just really hit with me.
    3. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a faith and Fracture a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
      – If like me you have some evangelicalism in your background, have gone through deconstruction/reconstruction and want to know some history pick it up. Also highly recommend The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Alison Barr
    4. Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party by Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin Jr.
      – I grew up conservative and heard about the Black Panthers. Nothing about them I learned about was true unsurprisingly! This book will learning you something you need.
    5. The Inspector Gamaché series by Louise Penny
      – Look, no one should trust the police… unless they’re fictional and written by Louise Penny.
    6. River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard
      – Do you like Indiana Jones and want a true story? This one floats to the top of all those style books I’ve read recently.
    7. Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women by Kate Manne
      – Required reading if you identify as male. Don’t argue, just read the damn book.
    8. The Holocaust: A New History by Laurence Rees
      – I was going to put The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Israeli author Ilan Pappé but I read it this year. This is neck and neck with that book. Dives into the prehistory of n*zi Germany and is as impactful, plus a nice precursor to Pappé’s book.
    9. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
      – Incredible horror/mind melt of a book. I read this twice last year, and am still decoding the hidden messages in the book. Highly recommend if that’s your bag.
    10. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty AND Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
      – Patrick Radden Keefe is an incredible writer/journalist. These two subject couldn’t be more different, and he makes them attainable in such engaging ways.

    Bonus book series: The Exorcist House/Anathema by Nick Roberts; if you like The Exorcist, you’ll enjoy these. Roberts is quickly becoming my Stephen King.

  • New Year’s Frickin’ Day

    Every year my wife buys me a calendar, and this one may be one of the best yet.

    There has been a lot of shit going on in the past month since I posted. Here is a brief rundown in no particular order:

    • We sold our house and moved out of Sylvania
    • We bought a new house in a new part of town
    • My wife broke her ankle on move in day
    • I work for a church and it was Advent and Christmas, I think that says enough
    • Painted six rooms in the house
    • Organized a basement and garage
    • Read 11 books

    There are a lot of other things, the normal stuff like having a toddler and being the most mobile parent. Usually I use writing as an outlet, but this month whenever I sat down it felt burdensome. Granted, I have five or six drafts, but I just couldn’t bring myself to upload them.

    New Year’s Eve is one of my favorite days of the year, the idea of new and freshness before you just makes me happy. Even though a bigoted fascist is being inaugurated for the second time this year, I am still choosing hope. I have to, I am a person of the resurrection, and must live into the hope and love of the reconciliation of all things.

    That does not mean it is easy, a lot of times it is very hard and friggin’ sucks.

    So long to 2024.

    Hello to 2025.

    Grace and peace my friends.

  • Darts

    You can watch the scene here

    There are few scenes from television that I can re-watch like the dart scene from Ted Lasso. I’m sure most of those reading will have seen it but if not, let me set the scene. Two men are playing darts in a crowded English pub, and there is a bet on the line. The bet is that if the former owner of the team Ted works for wins, he can pick the lineup for the rest of the season. If Ted wins, the former owner can’t come near the owners box while Rebecca (his ex-wife) owns the team.

    Ted is down in points, and needs to triple twenties and a bullseye to win the game. Before he takes his turn, he begins to speak to his opponent about how he has been underestimated by guys like him his entire life. Ted points out how those people aren’t curious, and their assumptions of him, had nothing to do with who he actually is. Ted comes to this because, curious people ask questions, they don’t make assumptions.

    It is a such a simple observation by Ted, but personally, it really packs a blow at the same time.

    The ability to be curious in a world we know is such a rare thing found in adulthood. This is why I think Ted Lasso stands out compared to other positive characters written for TV. It is also something I think tends to be lost in the Church, an observation pointed out to me by a former mentor. One of the things I had found most helpful during the major deconstruction phase of my faith were good questions. It took a little while for me to want to be curious about reconstructing my faith, but curiosity is what helped it grow.

    Reading rabbinic materials did a great job in re-cultivating the curiosity that evangelicalism killed. Knowing that there is space in faith traditions to play with the text, imagine what it was like, and disagree was such a foreign concept. Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Weinreb in his article, Korack: Two Jews, Three Opinions, writes:

    It is noteworthy in this regard that every single chapter of the work known as the Mishnah, which is the core around which the Talmud developed, contains a dispute between the rabbis on one point or another.

    With the heaviness of the world to come, and the rhetoric that will continue to ramp up (we saw last week at the capitol over bathrooms), it is good to remember that curiosity and questions belong. Not only do they belong, but it curiosity is how we grow and become humans deeper in the image of God. Only those who are afraid (toxic people, christian nationalists, homophobes, transphobes, etc.) will tell you otherwise. The way the writers of Ted Lasso nail this point home in such a disarming way lends to the longevity of the show.

    Stay curious my friends, it will only strengthen our resolve as we march forward. I needed a somewhat uplifting post because I have been stressed, worried, and even a little scared. I hope this gives you room to jump into something new to help balance the way things are going. You can’t fight fascism without remembering the beauty that exists and is worth maintaining. Try Ted Lasso if you haven’t seen it, or Gardner’s World with Monty Don, two sources that allow you to unplug and be filled for an hour.

    Barbecue sauce.

  • Transgender Day of Remembrance

    Image sourced here.

    Two weeks ago today the election results were announced, and things continue to look dire. Today, as the title gives away, is Transgender Day of Remembrance; while I am not a member of the trans community, I am a staunch ally. Now, I know there are going to be a few people who read this, that do not recognize trans people’s right to exist. There will also be those who read, that also think supporting queer people, and, specifically trans people is heresy. Nothing I say to you will change your mind. To borrow a phrase from someone I respect, I do not make nice with oppressors, and I hope you hear God. For those of you who are here that none of this applies to, welcome.

    Our LGBTQIA+ siblings have been here from the very beginning and to not recognize that, to me, is the same as ignoring Christ on the cross. Those who know their church history, they should be aware of this, and also know they have always had a place in the family of God. If this is news to you, I highly recommend these two books to get started:

    Transforming by Austin Hartke
    Sex Difference in Christian Theology by Megan K. DeFranza

    For Christians, to believe that we are made in the image of God, is to (hopefully) accept one of the Jewish concepts in the Talmud that says:

    Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created him as an androgynos (one having both male and female sexual characteristics), as it is said, “male and female He created them.1

    Dr. Rachel Scheinerman wrote an incredible article, The Eight Genders of the Talmud, that you can read right here. The reason why I am posting about this article, is because the Talmud is a compendium of rabbinic commentary, laws, and other writings that has been around for over a millennia. Outside of the Torah, it is the most impactful pieces of Jewish writing. To know that Christianity was a religion born out of ancient Judaism, reading ancient Jewish writings can be very helpful. Of these eight genders, four of them are applicable to our trans siblings.

    Less than 1.5% of trans people make up the total population in the United States according to a June 2022 article by the UCLA school of law.2

    350 trans siblings have been murdered globally so far in 2024.3

    321 trans siblings were murdered globally in 2023.4

    391 anti-trans bills have been proposed in the United States in 2024.5

    In 1933, one of the life centers of LGBT+ culture and community was in Germany; and when Hitler came to power, his government targeted our trans siblings.6

    The incoming presidential administration is terrifying for almost anyone who is not a straight, white, cis, republican male.

    Today is a somber day, and unfortunately there is a lot of ground still to cover for our siblings. But I believe it is possible to build a world where they are not only safe, but can be the person God made them to be. And that they will have the support to do so.

    May we remember our lost siblings not just today, but every day.

    May we remember that our trans siblings need us, not just today, but every day.

    May we see the image of God reflected in them, as we do ourselves.

    May we stand for them, even if our friends and family do not.

    And may we take a moment to recite these words from Rev. Marie A. Trato, the Canon for Community Justice Ministry in the Diocese of Long Island:

    Gracious and loving God, you made all of humankind in your image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: On this International Transgender Day of Remembrance, we remember those who were killed because of their all-encompassing humanity; help us to overcome our anger and our fear of those whose lives move beyond our binary definitions; draw us closer to the mystery and complexity of your infinite creativity and creation; teach us to look upon all of God’s children with love and compassion, that we may all live in safety and in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.7

    Sources:

    1. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-eight-genders-in-the-talmud/ ↩︎
    2. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/trans-adults-united-states/
      ↩︎
    3. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiewareham/2024/11/16/350-transgender-people-murdered-in-2024-will-the-violence-ever-end/ ↩︎
    4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiewareham/2024/11/16/350-transgender-people-murdered-in-2024-will-the-violence-ever-end/ ↩︎
    5. https://translegislation.com/
      ↩︎
    6. https://mjhnyc.org/events/transgender-experiences-in-weimar-and-nazi-germany/ ↩︎
    7. https://allsaints-pas.org/a-prayer-for-transgender-day-of-remembrance-november-20th/ ↩︎

  • “There’s a moment you know you’re f*cked”

    I am sure a few of my fellow musical theater millennial’s will recognize the title of this post. It comes from the 2006 musical, Spring Awakening. This show launched the careers of Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele, and is based on the 1891 German play Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind. Set in late 19th-century Germany, the musical tells the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of teenage sexuality.1 It came on the scene pretty hard, and the music and message still holds up. Now, unfortunately, more than ever.

    So Wednesday morning has come and gone, and what are we left to do?

    Work.

    Work harder than ever.

    Last week my co-worker and I asked our interim pastor what we should put on our marquee. “You know, I want the Gospel on it” is what he said. So we spitballed, and landed on “We Still Believe God is Love.”

    The future is dark, uncertain, and we need to hold true to who we are. Eventually there will be more of us that will rally around love. Because at the heart of the Gospel, that is all that’s left.

    God is love.

    And love, in the end, always wins.

    1. https://greenvalleytheatre.com/spring-awakening
      ↩︎

  • Super Tuesday

    I just left the line to vote. This is the first time since moving here that I had seen a line that will last more than 5 minutes.

    The picture above is one I took while dropping something off to a friend back in August. The heart your neighbor sign came from a group trying to reach out to neighbors. Their mission is, “during a year where neighborly love and values are tested through voting, we strive to bring neighbors together in love and harmony.”

    On the surface, it’s a great idea. But I, for the life of me, cannot understand how someone can put a sign like that their yard and vote for hate. Maybe in 2016 I could have understood.

    Maybe.

    But we know better now, and I’m only speaking for myself.

    To love your neighbor is to do what is best for everyone with the privilege you hold. Former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry wrote during the 2016 election:

    Go and vote.  Vote your conscience.  Your conscience informed by what it means to love your neighbor.  To participate in the process of seeking the common good.  To participate in the process of making this a better world.  However you vote, go and vote.  And do that as a follower of Jesus. 

    I would amend that to say, if you are a follower of Jesus;

    If you are someone who seeks justice, cares about the poor, widow, and orphan;

    If you strive to till the soil of this world to usher in the kin-dom of heaven;

    Do not vote for him. Lives are on the line.

    Women’s lives are on the line.

    LGBTQIA+ lives are on the line.

    People of Color lives are in the line.

    Those who rely on social security lives are on the line.

    Those who live on the margins lives are on the line.

    I support Palestinians, and she took too long to talk about Gaza in any “meaningful” way. And I’m not sure I trust the outcome. But like uncle Bernie said, “he must be defeated.”

    I can go on, and on but I’ll end it with this:

    Christ have mercy,

    Lord have mercy,

    Christ have mercy.

  • Prayer Meeting Reflection

    The second, fourth, and fifth Wednesdays of the month I am responsible for the prayer meeting at work. Here is the reflection from today’s meeting:

    Romans 5:5
    The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

    The word love is translated to agape. Agape love is often talked about in the big “C” church, and what it means, is a type of love that transcends feeling. It is about the outward pouring of caring for one another. The response from the person you’re doing this with should not matter. It is love that is perfectly modeled by Jesus.

    I have spent a lot of time working in food ministries, and often there is an attitude that, “people should be thankful for what they’re getting from us.” It is either on display in a way that people, who are going through the lines are not outwardly joyful or thankful for what is being received.

    There is a scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian that does a great job displaying this. Michael Palin is begging for alms as a “poor ex leper.” Jesus had healed him when he was not asked, and now Palin’s character has no idea how to live his life being healthy.

    Something I have found in my personal, and from speaking to other people I have known journey is, this is where lust sets in. I am not talking about the sexual desires that it is often associated with, but the idea of figuring out what mountain to conquer next.

    I was re-listening to a sermon, that turned twenty years old a few days ago, from a former pastor I really enjoy. And he was speaking on how lust promises what it can never deliver. The idea of what is next. Or what more can we be doing?

    This is the type of lust that permeates through churches and people disguised at times of agape love. It isn’t bad to ask what more can be done; in fact, it can bring about really great change. But sometimes, what we are searching for is never enough.

    The Mandate, St. Thomas Aquinas – Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West translated by Daniel Ladinsky

    Because of my compassion, the sun wanted to be near me all night,
    and the earth deeded her fields to me,
    and all in heaven said,

    “We have voted you our governor; tell us your divine mandate.”
    And I did, and God will never revoke it:
    Nothing in existence is turned
    away.

    More tender is my Lord’s heart than any heart
    has ever been.

    So, when the divine realm asked me to govern it
    with one simple
    rule,

    I looked into His eyes and then knew
    what to say to any angel
    who might serve as
    a sentry to
    God:

    No creature should be
    turned away.

    The monotony of good work can breed discontent without realizing it.

    As we go through this week, may we remember that the love we model in Jesus is about the people we are serving and engaging with, not just ourselves.

  • “Awaking” from our “Dullness”

    “We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.” – Hildegard of Bingen

    This morning in the Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, I came across this quote. In one of the many iterations of a blog, I wrote a series on Hildegard. This included writing on her life and going through some of her works. As a recovering evangelical-received-Episcopal, I am still familiarizing myself with the saints and quite a bit of church history. Spiritual practices like reading the Daily Office, and others were okay to adapt to. But the idea of “awakening from our dullness” struck me this morning. And I think I know why.

    I have a two and a half year old who has been awake between, 3:30am and 5am, for two months. Some days he naps well, and others he does not. At times he’s fighting his two year molars. Other times, he just wants to get a jump start on the day. My wife and I take turns getting up with him. Depending on how the morning goes, it is a long day for everyone. At this time in our life, there is no awaking from our dullness.

    There is only dullness.

    Dullness, Ms. Rachel, Elmo, and the Toy Story saga.

    Without knowing it, in an attempt to break the dullness, I started decorating my yard for Halloween a month early. This year I decided that instead of spending one marathon day getting it all up, I’d take my time and enjoy it. This is something I look forward to every year. This has been a small way of awaking from the dullness for me. But it has done it in a different way that I awaken from the dullness with my kid. Right now, as we are in “second summer,” our kid’s favorite pastime is turning on the hose and watering our house and everything else he can. He will do this every day, and he will find joy in it. I, at times, find it monotonous.

    Dullness and monotony are synonyms, they are ways to describe mediocrity.

    I have one compact disk in my car, and it is the second half to the Mars Hill Bible Church worship album that came out in the early 2000s. Between songs, Aaron Niequist, former worship pastor (I think that’s the title), quoted a G.K. Chesterton book. In Orthodox, Chesterton writes:

    The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun, and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

    It is hard to awaken from the dullness of life without coffee and being sleep deprived. But this guy, God bless him, awakes every day saying, “do it again!” and I’ve been too old to hear him. Instead, I have been trying to re-enter practices, and trying to find different ways to awaken from the dullness, when one person right in front of me is showing me how to do it.

    Grace and peace.

  • Thomas: The Relatable Disciple

    Doubting Thomas and Jesus.

    I wrote this back in April for the Noon Day Prayer Meeting reflection for work.

    "But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
    A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."     - John 20:24-29 (NRSV)

    I doubt there is anyone more relatable in the Gospels than the Apostle Thomas.

    I mean, you miss one hangout with the crew and all of a sudden, you’re supposed to believe your teacher is alive. It sounds like a giant practical joke if you’re Thomas. It would be difficult not to respond with the, “I won’t believe anything until I put a finger through his hand!” After all, it was not like people came back from the dead all the time then. But when Jesus comes back, Thomas sees him, and while we are not told he touches the wounds, we know for Thomas, the world is turned upside down. Jesus has pulled one over on humanity, and the rest of the world because he has moved from death to life. When he asks Thomas, “have you believed because you have seen me?” what answer could be expected other than yes?

    While Hebrews tells us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I for one cannot imagine how it was expected of Thomas to believe without seeing. It reminds me of Exodus when Moses is tending Jethro’s flock and he walks by Mount Herob and sees the burning bush. Something that is on fire but not being consumed by it. If Moses had told me he’d seen a burning bush I would have believed him. After all, I have three in my yard. If he had told me he’d seen a bush that was on fire but not being consumed by it, it would take me a little time to let that sink in.

    But both of these interactions have something in common. It is the space between Jesus showing Thomas the marks, and Moses absorbing what God had to say that action comes forth. The Apostle Thomas eventually goes on to take Christianity to India and is eventually martyred for it. Moses, as we all know, after some convincing by God, goes on to free the ancient Israelite’s from slavery. Both of these actions have humanity partnering with God to bring about sharing the love of God.

    It is easy to ignore the holiness of space, and for that matter the time that takes place in the space. In his book The Sabbath, rabbi, and philosopher Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel states:

    “we know what do with space but do not know what to do about time, except make it subservient to space. Most of us seem to labor for the sake of things of space. As a result we suffer from a deeply rooted dread of time and stand aghast when compelled to look into its face. Time to us is sarcasm, a slick treacherous monster with a jaw like a furnace incinerating every moment of our lives.”

    When I read this section of John’s Gospel this week, the space of the crucifixion wound and the time between Thomas hearing of Jesus’ resurrection, and seeing him really stood out. How many times do you think the Spirit tried to make contact with Thomas that week? Where there times when Thomas was sitting alone at night? Did he lay awake wondering if this was true that Jesus was back? Was he pushing the door shut while the Spirit was trying to break it open? What makes the Apostle Thomas so relatable for me, is there is space for his doubt. Space for his thoughts. And space for him to allow God to enter his midst and partner with him.

    I’d like to end with a meditation from Dr. Heschel’s book Between God and Man. Just so we are all aware, “man” in the title refers to humanity:

    “The presence of God is a majestic expectation, to be sensed and retained and, when lost, to be regained and resumed. Time is the presence of God in the world. Every moment is His subtle arrival, and man’s task is to be present. His presence is retained in moments in which God is not alone, in which we try to be present in His presence, to let Him enter our daily deeds, in which we coin our thoughts in the mint of eternity. The presence is not one realm and the sacred deed another; the sacred deed is the divine in disguise. The destiny of man is to be a partner of God and a mitzvah is an act in which man is present, an act of participation; while sin is an act in which God is alone; an act of alienation. Such acts of man’s revelations of the divine are acts of redemption. The meaning of redemption is to reveal the holy that is concealed, to disclose the divine that is suppressed. Every man is called upon to be a redeemer, and redemption takes place every moment, every day.” (pg. 80)