Elul 26
A few years ago I had what seemed like a repetitive strain injury that affected my right shoulder, arm, wrist and hand. It made many basic daily tasks quite painful, like turning a doorknob or brushing my teeth–strange pain and numbness that sometimes felt like electricity shooting through my wrist, or a tight pinching feeling. At times the pain interfered with getting important things done. After about a year, the symptoms were disappeared, and I was able to easily resume cooking, typing, and other tasks. I felt a renewed sense of gratitude for the ability to chop garlic or write an email.
And now, a little Torah:
Ki Adonay Eloheycha berachecha bechol ma'aseh yadecha yada lechtecha et-hamidbar hagadol hazeh zeh arba'im shanah Adonay Eloheycha imach lo chasarta dava.
God your Divine Source is blessing you in everything you do. Yah knows your way in this great desert, and for these forty years, God your Beloved has been with you, so that you lacked nothing.
Deuteronomy 2:7
My mother used to read palms
lines and crevices snake across the surface
reveal stories and portend possiblities
the work of your hands
ma'aseh yadecha
All that you do
everything
blessed
connected to the Source of All That Is
lacking nothing
whole
What path in the desert are you journeying right now? What is the work of your hands? What lines of truth are visible and what do they reveal about your story?
There is nothing that can shake me
She has said she won't forsake me
I'm in her hands
–lyrics from Bobby McFerrin's interpretation of Psalm 23
on the CD Medicine Man