5780 Chanukah Day 8 — Or Chen — Sitting in the Light of Grace

The Power of the Spirit
Meditations for the Days of Chanukah
Sitting in the Lights that Echo from the Beginning of Creation
 
Chanukah Day 8
Or Chen  Sitting in the Light of Grace
 

The mystics teach that the flames of Chanukah echo from the beginning of creation and send forth lights of chen, grace—pure love, freely given. There is nothing we need to do to earn grace. There is no one else we need to be to be the recipients of love. The light of grace—pure love, freely given, is the fabric of creation and seeks us all. On this eighth day of Chanukah, the light of grace seeks our souls, offering comfort and love and looking to come into the world through us.

Taking our seats, we welcome the eighth day of Chanukah, setting the intention to sit in Or Chen, a light of grace, pure love freely given. With each breath, we invite the light and open ourselves to receive a loving and grace filled embrace. Or Chen arrives with gentleness and ease. The light seeks us. We might notice the light as a color. We might feel its vibrations as it travels with the breath. When the mind gets distracted by challenging thoughts or stories, we breathe gently into these thoughts and return the attention to Or Chen, the light of pure love, freely given, that is seeking and finding us.        

                                                   
We close the sit by giving thanks and reminding ourselves that we are channels through which the Divine comes into the world. The more love we are able to receive, the more love we are able to give.

May the lights of this season clear the way for love and blessing to come through.  

May goodness rise. May truth and justice prevail.

Love to all,

—Rabbi Yael Levy

2 Tevet 5780