Greetings friends
 
The days are getting noticeably shorter, and it seems the world keeps moving closer to the brink of destruction and chaos.  Let us all hope and pray for things to settle in all those parts of the world engulfed in turmoil.
 
It’s not just them, but all neighbors can and do suffer by the actions of any.  We are not an island.  The steps we each take reverberate through the corridors of time and space, affecting everything around it. 
 
It is always time to take a deep breath and focus on peace – internally and externally.  As we each do what we can do ourselves, it impacts the world around us, one atom at a time.  As you expand your energy, you affect everything around you.  That is not a special time, a special thing.  It is always - with everything you do, say, think.
 
In less than two weeks, we face the mirror of self and stand in judgment, and for ten days, we can reflect, examine, forgive, and renew.  This is not just an exercise we do every year or so; it is an opportunity to clear karma and reconnect to the path of your true destiny.  It is a permanent gift available for anyone, anytime.  It just so happens to come at the time of the heavenly scales when we weigh our souls.
 
What do you need to think about for the coming of the ten days of awe?
 
That’s a pretty intimidating kind of term.  How does that connect to New Years?  Is that how you see January 1 or the beginning of any year?
 
It can be such a misnomer – because, as you Torah readers out there know – this was never intended as a time to mark the calendar - it is the 7th month, not the first. 
 
So, this year, think of the “new year” as an opportunity to see where you need to make changes in life.  The two equinoxes mark very special times when the world is in balance, and we choose which way to go.
 
Remember also, you are not only noticed on Rosh Hashanah – your treatment of self and others is something that is with you always.  Where in your life are you treating people as ‘other,’ as ‘alien,‘ not as brother or friend?  The phrase for inscription and sealing – ketiva v’chatima tovah - does not just apply to the coming ten days.
 
You are inscribing yourself daily.  Treat others as you want to be treated.
 
This week, we see the actual first liturgy in the bible – the first prayer actually that we know was said and is said no longer.  It brought history and spirituality together and thus tied secular to sacred, past to present, and time to space.  We learn the secret formula for prayer – a regal formula was developed on the basis of identity, flattery, and thanks, entreaty.
 
“Oh lord, creator of heaven and earth, who delivered us from bondage”– “if it please you, as you have done so often before, for so many, provide peace, security, insight into who I am and give me the power to grant and to seek forgiveness….”
 
That little prayer has all the elements - I stated the identity of who I am addressing and praised them for things they do and have done, and then I ask for what I am petitioning them for.  This is what the prayer-filled holy days coming up are about, and this is your formula for developing your own.