The Power of Love

Day 2

Gevurah of Chesed


You've got to believe in love

It's a feeling that's next to none

Can't stop until we are one

With the power of love

Tell everyone you see

How much better the world could be

For them and for you, for me

With the power of love

–from "The Power of Love" by Luther Vandross


The week of chesed would be incomplete without a little sound bite from the ultimate King of Love, Luther Vandross (z"l).

Gevurah–strength and receptivity, groundedness, power. Gevurah of Chesed is a meditation on receiving the gifts of lovingkindness with strength. Remember the metaphor of the fortune cookie–when we are wrapped in lovingkindess, we are filled with strength. 

Fortunately there are many ways to interpret and understand these meditations. Notice what words, images, and themes resonate for you. Let go of any concern about doing it the right way–there is no one right way. 

I have found enormous freedom and possibility in creating my own Omer practice to accompany the traditional one. So I am also reading a gorgeous new collection of contemporary Psalms written by poet Joy Ladin. Her poetry is searing, gorgeous and provocative, and reminds me that if my own writing, particularly these Omer postings, is too sweet, too woo-woo, too schmaltzy, it will lack the necessary challenge, tension and healthy discomfort that fosters exploration, revelation, and ultimately, transformation.

These poems, and this Omer practice, invite me to dive head first into the Divine paradox.

Is there a paradox in your own life right now? If so, how are you holding the tension? Who is holding it with you and from where do you derive your strength? 


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 photo courtesy of JLR