FRIENDS: tonight, the sun is setting in a lavender-and washed out sky, and the wind is beginning to stir. i’ve got two candles burning. in case you were not aware or not planning to participate, today is the holy day of atonement according to the ancient jewish calender. not born a jew, i don’t quite know what i am doing and don’t want to go overboard in religious ceremony when i don’t understand. but somehow i feel invited, in my spirit, to come before the throne of grace tonight, to belly up to the table of mercy, and make the effort to go beyond the more spontaneous, blue-jean, casually worded christianity i know so well.
i have turned off the television, taken off my shoes. well, i never had shoes on in the first place, save for the plastic sandals i wore for a short time this afternoon. for now, my feet are bare. there is no sound. no radio, or cd player; only the refrigerator and the occasional sounds of children upstairs. i am alone as i attempt this prayer, thinking of the people i have sinned against, wondering if i have been wrong in any way. the things i have said, the avoidances, the names i’ve called out in anger, not really meaning to say it. curses from my mouth, casual slander, withholding grace. have i made things right? has anyone a grudge against me? do i remain unforgiven in someone else’s wounded heart?
Avinu Malkeinu (Our Father, Our King)
Our Father, Our King, hear us
Our Father, Our King, we have sinned against you
Our Father, Our King, have pity for usAnd for our children
Our Father, Our King, rid us of plagueWar, and famine
Our Father, Our King, rid us of all sorrow
Our Father, Our King…Inscribe us in the Book of Life
Our Father, Our King,Renew our lives with a blessed year
Hear us
Hear us
Hear us
“Sh’ma koleinu, Sh’ma koleinu,” hear us.
Listen to Avinu Malkenu, as performed by David and the High Spirit.-click on this link if you are in a place where you can listen freely to this prayer being sung in hebrew.
“in the past Gd spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe. the Son is the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. after he had provided purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” hebrews 1.1-3.
later in that same early church letter, our Lord is explained to be the “one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.” in light of that, let us ponder these words: “i will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. i will be their God, and they will be my people. no longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. for i will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” hebrews 8.10-12, taken from jeremiah 31.
‘i will forgive their sins and will remember their sins no more.’
what a perfect salvation. what a perfect Father. this is a beautiful day of atonement, i tell you. i can accept, just as i am, a deep and abiding peace, a release from all the things i have said and done. in the midst of my own wayward thoughts and fleeting committment, my Heavenly Father has made me his child. I am safe. I am loved. I belong, because Jesus Christ saved me from running away, and there is nothing i can do to erase this thing He’s done for me.
thank you, Lord, for being in charge of all things, so that i can come before you tonight and confess my sins to you, and still have hope. thank you for not holding my sins against me, no matter what they are. always help me to make things right with my brothers and sisters; teach me how to humble myself, to live in peace with others, because i did not come to you alone, but am joined together with others as a member of your Body, your Bride. let your joy from this salvation lead me, and fill each cup of those who pray with me here in this time.
darkthirty 