Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.
-Isaiah 58:12 (NRSVUE)
How are you called to repair what is broken in society?
“When we have broader conversations about reparations or what it looks like to repair—particularly the harms that have been done to indigenous communities, black communities, other communities of color—I believe that love means thinking about the resources that enable life. So what does reparation look like at the intersection of communities of color and healthcare, or communities of color and education? What does it look like to have those kinds of conversations, beyond just conversations about money and land that is owed, but also about accessing resources that have been inequitably distributed for more than a century? All of us should have a hand in those conversations, and all of us have some responsibility to bring about justice in those contexts.” -Takiyah Nur Amin, from The Call of Our Faith
Have a real conversation about reparations today.
It is possible to make beauty from brokenness. What results from the repair of our cracked and shattered places need not be anything like it was before they broke. Shattered pieces of tile are gathered into gorgeous mosaics. Our souls can be like that, too.
Create some beauty today.
“This is the season of repair. A time to reflect on how we might endure when life tears at us. We are held by the great Book of Life, in which it is written that we will inevitably face deprivation and discomfort. Longing and forgiveness. Each among us must contemplate our own place in it all.” -from Call to Gather for the High Holy Days (Days of Awe), by Leah Ongiri
Contemplate your place in the complex web of harm and repair.
Yom Kippur, the most sacred holy day to Jewish people, begins at sundown tonight. It is the last day of the Days of Awe, in which people are asked to atone for their sins. We offer you today this prayer from Joanna Lubkin. You may wish to light a candle or a chalice as you say it.
We light this chalice in honor of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.
May its flame call us to search our souls, sifting through the past year to see where we may have missed the mark.
May its light guide us toward the courageous and openhearted apology, toward repair of relationships in our lives.
May its heat warm our hearts to offer forgiveness to those who have wronged us, allowing us to release the chains of grudge and blame that have bound us to them.
And may its strength help us take the actions that are within our power to make this next year more just, more loving, and more peaceful for our communities and for all of humanity.
And let us say: amen.
