The Times? They’ve Changed. They Continue to Change.
Dear Folks,
I’ve been searching, seeking, wondering what to say to you, what to say to me, at the end of this week of such intense weather and such horrifying national events. What a week it was, a cold one, a painful one, a fearful one, a disturbing one, as the unraveling of the order of things continues.
I have been drawing upon this profound quote from the Talmud this week:
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.
Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now.
You are not obligated to complete the work,
But neither are you free to abandon it.
The Talmud
The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism. It is the primary source of Jewish law and Jewish theology. Compiled over several centuries, it was written between the 3rd and the 6th centuries CE. In other words, none of this is new.
None of this is new.
Today, I can attempt to dissect the key words here for us. I hope this might be supportive:
~~~
Daunted—to make someone feel intimidated or apprehensive or overcome with fear
(Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling pretty damn daunted these days.)
Enormity—the great or extreme scale, seriousness, or extent of something perceived as bad or morally wrong
Do Justly—according to what is morally right or fair, to act in a fair, honest, and impartial manner
Love Mercy—to show compassionate, undeserved kindness and forgiveness, actively seeking to help the suffering, not just passively feeling pity, but embodying love, not judgment
(I’m struck by the phrase “undeserved kindness.” I feel such rage at the perpetrators in Minnesota, such fury. Kindness? That is who I would like to be. I can practice leaning in that direction.)
Walk Humbly—living a life characterized by service, recognizing one’s limitations, admitting wrongs, and valuing others above oneself
Obligated—feeling legally, morally, or socially bound to take a specific action, often out of duty or necessity
Abandon—to give up completely of action, a practice, a way of thinking
I feel and hear the otherworldly brilliance and profundity of these words. Its inherent power comforts me. Yet, how do we live into it? Each one of us may be called to interpret this within the riverbanks of our own lives.
~~~
Consider. Contemplate. Ponder.
Is there one thing you can do today to practice, “do justly”? What might it be? How might it/how did it make you feel?
What does “love mercy now” mean to you? How can that specifically show up in your world?
“Walk humbly now.” How can you specifically practice this?
Friends, I have no answers. Today, I only have these questions.
~~~
I keep thinking about the Times They are A’ Changing by Bob Dylan, for me an ultimate of protest songs. I have found solace in this song written in 1963. I can’t always grab its words. Here are the lyrics:
Come gather ‘round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
And you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That its naming
For the loser now
may later to win
for the times they are a’ changin
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he who gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
The battle outside is ranging
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a’ changin
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend a hand
For the times they are a’ changin.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a’ changin.
~~
I offer you this different version of the song, sung by the Women’s Voices Chorus, a powerful regional chorus. Please do enjoy:
More information about the Chorus
~~~
Friends,
How strange.
A song 60+ years old along with a philosophy of living centuries and centuries old,
Speaking so specifically about today,
Right here,
Right now.
We are here to hold the space for goodness and grace.
We are here to practice taking care of ourselves.
We are here to offer that care to each other.
We are here to be vessels of kindness.
Give us the courage and the strength to practice.
May all beings benefit from our shared words.
All blessings,
Aruni
*The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism. It is the primary source of Jewish law and Jewish theology. It was complied over several centuries, written between the 3rd and the 6th centuries CE.