Day 1
Tonight begins the first week and the first day of counting the omer. Remember, it's a matrix. The symbolic image for me is that each day is wrapped in a tallit (prayer shawl) of the essence of that particular week. Or if this works better for you, the week is a fortune cookie and each day is the slip of paper inside the cookie.
I am especially fond of the first day of each week because we get a double shot of a particular Divine aspect.
The essence of the first week is Chesed, or lovingkindness (see previous postings about chesed). And this first day is Chesed of Chesed, the capacity to express and receive lovingkindness. Imagine the quality of lovingkindness wrapped in lovingkindness.
Last night at the first seder I had a taste of chesed while I played Legos with a delightful three year old and his older brother. We scoured through a giant bin of mixed up Lego pieces in search of a particular one shaped like a pair of pants. Such a sweet victory when I found it tucked in the corner underneath some Lego wheels and placed it in his delirious little hand.
Where in my life might I cultivate even more wholeness and reciprocity in the experience of lovingkindness?
What are the internal and external obstacles that interfere with the fullest expression of chesed, and how might I let go of my attachment to those obstacles?