How to Ask for Forgiveness
On Friday’s eve, October 11th, is the start of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This day is considered to be the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Those who follow the tradition are fasting for 25 hours. I stay in the synagogue the whole day, praying and asking for forgiveness from God, for all the transgressions known and not known to me. The process of atonement started ten days earlier on Rosh-Hashanah. It begins with asking for forgiveness from people in my life. I am grateful in advance for your forgiveness.
What happens on Sunday, the day after the Day of Atonement is over? Old habits kick in and life goes back to the same routine, or perhaps something does change. Was I forgiven or not? Do I have to wait till the next Yom Kippur to find out? And how do I know how my life is supposed to be? If we are to live day by day and to make an effort to help others, the answers to these questions don’t really matter. After all, this was the essence of my repentance.
Recently, I have published my latest book, “42 Encounters with Illumination”. It has beautiful images of the manifestation of light, and poems which serve as illuminations.
Myself
I cannot be myself
Unless I share myself with others.
That is an eternal message
Which I received some time ago.
This message became my life’s mission.
It helps me to understand
What life is all about,
Who am I, and why I am here,
In this place and time.
What it takes to be
The son, the brother and the husband,
Father, friend, co-worker,
Man or woman, child and the older person.
Only when I realized that I am part of all these people
Who fill my life, and whom I love,
I was able to find myself.
You can order “42 Encounters with Illumination” on Amazon.
Enjoy and Share!