Shaped by Time

Dear Friends,

I hope this moment finds you well and safe.

Here is a poem I wrote years ago when I spent a month of the Omer in the red rock canyons of Southern Utah. I have shared this poem before and I felt it calling again as we come to the end of the week of Hod. The desert canyons taught me lessons that continue to shape my life. I bow in gratitude.
May we care for the wild places, honoring and protecting them. The well-being of all depends upon their gifts.

High desert canyons,
Red walls reaching upward,
Streaks of yellow sandstone and navaho white.
 
Massive rock
Formed and reformed by wind and water,
By the summer’s heat,
And the winter’s cold.
 
These mighty canyons
Are sculpted,
Are shaped,
Are made beautiful
By all that has been worn away.
By all that has been lost.
 
Walking among them, one would be forgiven
For assuming these giants are forever.
 
But after leaning against a wall
Or seeking shelter in a crevice
One comes away with the red dust
Of their passing.
 
Everything that is, becomes something else.
Everything that will be, was.
 
May our hearts be strong and filled with courage
As the seasons pass and leave us
Raw and exposed,
And perhaps even more beautiful
For all that has been worn away,
For all that has been lost.
 
Much love and blessing to all.

Shalom,
—Rabbi Yael Levy
20 Iyar 5780
Listen to this morning's guided Omer Meditation Sit.