Parshat Ki Tissa

Make for us a god who will go before us and show us the way. (Exodus 32:1)

Everyone got so afraid.
They didn’t know what was happening.
They didn’t know what would be.

So they made something
They thought they could hold onto.

Out of gold, silver, precious stones,
They fashioned for themselves a god.
Something concrete and sure, they thought.
Something that wouldn’t change.

But of course, everything changes.
And in the pursuit of permanence,
And out of the fear and anger that took hold
The tablets were broken.

The gift,
The instructions,
The symbol of the Eternal covenant,
Shattered.

Now we carry the brokenness with us.
The sharp edges,
The fragile pieces,
The remembrance of all that is sacred,
Of all that is true.

Gently,
With caution,
We offer the fragments to each other.

Helping each other remember
And trust,
That within all the brokenness
Are the threads that connect us.
Within all the brokenness
Is the mystery we call God.