Religious holidays and birthdays are a time of reflection and I appreciate you indulging my thoughts here this week.
- · Reviewing our actions
- · Over the past year can be
- · Illuminating and instructive.
- · Learning from our past is the best way
- · To decide how to live our lives in the future.
There’s a part in the Yom Kippur service where the congregation confesses, which is a step in the process of atonement during which a Jew admits to committing a sin before God. This part of the service includes reading from what seems like an exhaustive list of possible sins. As they recite these, each congregant also lightly beats their chest with their hand as an added means of making a lasting impression. I know that this concept of confessing sins exists in some form in most religions, meaning most of the world spends time each year reflecting on the things that in retrospect they believe they could do better in the future. That being the case, I’m surprised we (referring to the entire human race) haven’t gotten demonstrably better – there’s still hate and fear, discrimination, wars, killing, famine, abuse, and a general state of discourse that is far less than civil. Be that as it may, what I can do is commit to being better next year than I was during this past one. I’m going to try because if I don’t, the same will probably continue to occur. Let’s all try to be kinder and more considerate of others today.
Fay Weldon (born 22 September 1931) is an English author, essayist, and playwright.
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