Atonement

The other day I wanted to introduce Yom Kippur to our boys so I invited them into our Pooja Room and explained the Jewish tradition of starting the new year by recalling some of the mistakes of the old one with the promise to not repeat them in the future. Our younger boy said with an apologetic tone that he would treat his brother better next year. Our older boy said with a defiant voice that some of his worst mistakes on the baseball field will not happen again in the upcoming season.

So what exactly is Atonement about? I tend to know it when I choose against love. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes when I am cranky or when I have low energy, I know that it happens and my conscience tells me that this lack of love is likely to come back to haunt me one day in some way. But then, there is also the subconscious ballast that we have to throw overboard. Stuff that we do and trust that it is ok with our liberal spiritual mindset; yet, our subconscious system thinks differently. If we listen to our body carefully, we will find this ballast. The psychologists tell us that our body expresses our psychological burden and I believe they are right. One obvious example is a person who is hunched over. The weight of the world is symbolically on his shoulders. Diseases are another example. Louise Hay in 'You can Heal Your Life' has an entire appendix that assigns each disease with its psychological meaning.

If that all sounds complicated to you, let me tell you that it does to me as well. Perhaps it is my Protestant upbringing, but I tend to struggle with the concept of Atonement. I said to the boys on Yom Kippur that they should focus on the good intentions for the upcoming year and that is my approach as well. Whatever the mistake might have been in the past, it will probably come back to you with the reminder to do it better next time around. Focus on that positive fact and don't mind that life will probably shake you up a little to help you to let go of your baggage. Viewed from that perspective, Yom Kippur is every day, an invite to put your best foot forward at this holy moment.