Many of you know that I recently enjoyed a significant birthday. Turning 60 places me directly in the first class of what is so well known as the Baby Boomer Generation.
We boomers have been a lot of things in our lifetimes.
We came of age during the rich but often confusing days of Height Asbury, Woodstock and flower power.
We were caught up in the sexual revolution and various peace movements. We have pursued altruistic goals and we have been incredibly self-centered.
As my generation entered our thirties and forties we started to be called the Me Generation and more recently we have started to hear our adult years referred to as the Age of Entitlement.
We were motivated by books with titles such as Winning Through Intimidation, Looking Out for Number One as well as volume after volume of self-help books each intended to help us to be us sexier, stronger, better husbands, better wives, better parents and specifically wealthier than everyone else.
Most folks in my generation have been told we deserve whatever we want, and when anything gets in the way of that, we get angry -- and since something almost inevitably gets in the way of our getting everything we want, a lot of people are angry a lot of the time.
I think there would be a lot less anger if people were more grateful and contented with what they have.
Also, I think people need to realize that, as a wise friend once told me, you can (at least in a free country) have anything you want -- you just can't have everything you want all of the time.
The Jewish high holy day of Yom Kippur starts tonight at sunset and ends at sunset tomorrow. The term Yom Kippur literally means "Day of Atonement" in Hebrew.
Yom Kippur is an annual holy day observed by Jews just after Rosh Hashanah and is characterized by fasting and prayer for the atonement of sins.
Observant Jews regard it as the most important and solemn day on the religious calendar.
Yom Kippur culminates ten days of increased levels of prayer, the performance of good deeds, and the seeking of forgiveness from anyone one has harmed, purposely or inadvertently, during the previous year.
Yom Kippur is one of the most widely observed holidays on the Jewish calendar. It marks the highest synagogue attendance rate of any other day in the year.
Despite its widespread observance and long hours spent in synagogue, Yom Kippur is a difficult day to understand.
The major theme of Yom Kippur is atonement. The source for much of our observance of Yom Kippur is Leviticus 23:26-28:
"God spoke to Moses, saying: Mark, the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a sacred occasion for you: you shall practice self-denial, and you shall do no work throughout that day for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God."
The requirement to "practice self-denial" is interpreted in the Talmud to mean the following five prohibitions: eating, drinking, bathing, sexual relations, using bath oils and lotions, and the wearing of leather shoes.
In Biblical and Rabbinic times, temple rituals and sacrifices were the focus of the holiday. Among the highlights of the day was the scapegoat ceremony during which lots would be placed on two goats.
One goat would be offered as a sacrifice in the temple, in the Holy of Holies; and the second would be thrown into the wilderness.
In fact, this religious observance is what gave rise to our use of the word scapegoatas one who is blamed for the actions of others.
The day of Yom Kippur itself is said to have the power to forgive sins. The renunciation of sins and our confession of them is said to be essential for a new year of life with a proverbial clean slate.
Jewish theology infers that its followers are to repent for the sins between God and ourselves and for sins between ourselves and other people.
"On this day of atonement," writes Rabbi Allen Maller, "We will not seek to escape responsibility for our ownselves. We will not fault our parents, siblings or childhood traumas for the weakness we display.
Nor will we blame society, the economy, or our institutions for their failure to make us perfect.
We are free to choose a dozen times a day how we shall react to life's challenges, and in this small way mold ourselves to become better than we are.
On this Day of Atonement...we need to accept responsibility for our ownselves. We cannot be perfect, continuously happy and successful, always attractive, popular and healthy.
"We seek only to be better; to be a little kinder, braver, and more patient. To be at one with ourselves, our values and our dreams, as well as being at one with our people, our traditions and our God."
The Day of Atonement...a day for being at one in the moment. For separating ourselves from the worries and trials of our work-a-day world and energy consuming activities to be, if only for a short time, at rest with ourselves and at rest in the world.
In the truest sense, it is a day for looking out for number 1.... for looking at and re-examining what is most important in our lives and for examining how we might lead a more purposeful and meaningful existence.
In Jewish synagogues the five services of Yom Kippur build in intensity throughout the day.
During the final hour of the day, all who have fasted and prayed gather strength from their friends and cry out for the gates of forgiveness to remain open, as they are about to close.
The cathartic moment comes when nighttime has descended and is punctuated by the blowing of the Shofar, as all exclaim, "Next year in Jerusalem." Next year will be together in the Promised Land.
Everyone's reason for seeking forgiveness, for making amends, is different, but what doesn't change, is the acknowledgment of the power and awesome consequences of Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur makes the believer stop and consider his or her behavior toward others and God.
Too often, our lives, our families and our businesses get in the way the rest of the year. Immersing oneself in the day's prayers and confessions helps to level the playing field.
In the synagogue, you can sit next to the head of a giant corporation or you can sit next to a clerk in a store or an office.
It doesn't matter to God, and that is something too often forgotten in the hectic pace of life.
"The observance of Yom Kippur," says one commentator "is intended as a reminder that what we do for a living has no correlation to our worthiness before God.
Everyone is equal. The only thing that matters is our behavior to our friends, our spouses, our parents, our children, and our community.
Succeed in these areas, and the reward in the world to come and in your lifetime, will outweigh even the richest and most famous."
One aspect of Yom Kippur that truly appeals to me is the sense that this observance is all about a process rather than an event.
Unlike observances that rose out of great occasions like the births of Confucius, or the Buddha, or Jesus or the commemoration of historical events like Hanukkah, Yom Kippur calls on all Jews to look deep inside themselves.
It is a time to sort out the wheat from the chaff, the good from the bad, the selfish from the generous aspects of our lives.
Listen as I share this reading from Virginia Satir.
Satir was one of the key figures in the development of family therapy. She believed that a healthy family life involved an open and reciprocal sharing of affection, feelings, and love.
These words come from a meditation she wrote titled, Being Grounded.
Go deep inside yourself
find that treasure that
is known by your name.
Look at this treasure
look at the resources
that are universal
you have them all.
You can see
think
hear
feel
taste
smell
choose
move
sort
To sort the ability to
let go of what once fit
but no longer does, and
see clearly what
fits now.
Now say to yourself,
"I am able,
I can do this.
I have the energy through my
groundedness, my relationship to the heavens,
and my interconnectedness with others.
I am able."
I can do this because:
I have the energy through my groundedness....I am more fully alive and more fully present and therefore I am more honest with my self and more open to that small, still voice within my heart.
When I am able to sort through all of the "stuff" that occupies my daily rounds then I am able to discover what is truly important in my life.
I am able to use my gifts of thinking and feeling and seeing and hearing to discern what kind of person I am and to think about the kind of person I want to become.
I can do this because:
I have the energy through my relationship with the heavens....I am energized when I know that I am a part of something larger than myself...
That I am a part of the web of all existence and whether I believe in one God or many, or whether I believe in the Goddess or the Buddha or the healing power of nature I am energized by that experience of transcending mystery and wonder which moves us toward the renewal of the spirit.
I can be assured that I am not alone in my search for meaning and truth in my life.
I can do this because:
I am energized by my interconnections with others....
I am energized when I confront the powers and structures of evil with compassion, justice and the transforming power of love.
I am energized when I am in community with others and my actions build relationships and build understanding. I am energized when my words and deeds help to breakdown the walls of racism, ageism, sexism, and classism.
I am energized by life.
So, what is it that energizes you?
What is it that motivates you to come to an understanding of who you are and what your place in the world is.
What are you willing to give up, to let go of and see clearly what is of the greatest importance to you?
So, during the time when our Jewish neighbors are observing the high holy day of Yom Kippur may we, too, use this time to go deep inside ourselves and to find there the treasure that is known by each of our names.
During this Day of Atonement, may we here in this room be at one with ourselves and have a deeper appreciation of all that we have.
Many years ago, during a difficult stretch in my life a person very close to me asked me to say these simple wordsI am a competent and capable person.
I was stunned when I couldn't bring myself to reply. I wanted to repeat his words but I could not.
And for the longest time we just sat in silence. But over a period of time, weeks and months, I begin to say them to myselfto say to myself that I was a capable and competent personbut still, I was unable to give voice to them because of all the doubts and uncertainties that filled my life.
More time went by and I began to sort out where my doubts and uncertainties came from.
I began to believe that I did indeed have responsibility for the direction of my own life and that I could no longer fault my parents, siblings or childhood traumas for turning me into a person I didn't like very much.
Over a period of months, I came to see that I was indeed free to choose how I would react to life's challenges, I came to see that I was free to control what stuff I wanted to keep and what stuff I wanted to get rid of, and I began to become the better person I hoped to be.
In all the best ways, I began to look out for number 1 and today I can without hesitation or guilt say aloud, "I am a capable and competent person."
I recently came across an interesting story about Albert Schweitzerwho many claim as a Unitarian, but who most likely considered himself to be a life-long Lutheran who just happened to agree with some Unitarian theology.
Anyway, the story tells of the day word came to his remote hospital in Gabon that there were some women from a cruise ship who wished to come and visit his hospital.
These were reportedly very wealthy women and since money was always an issue for Schweitzer he decided to permit the visit in hopes of raising some much needed funds for his efforts at bringing health care to those most in need.
Well, as it turned out the boats brought not three or four women, as had been expected, but thirty women came to see the famous doctor. A nurse was excused from her duties of caring for patients to escort the visitors around the hospital grounds.
"What dirty walkways you have," said one of the women," looking down at her dusty shoes."
"Where is all your equipment?" asked another.
"Excuse me miss but a huge pig is blocking the door," said another.
"Are their modern bathroom facilities in our quarters?" an elegantly dressed woman asked and the nurse had to shake her head as she led the visitors to the village latrines.
And so while the hospital's workers quietly gave up their beds and their chairs in the dining room to the thirty visitors, the women wondered through the village shaking their heads at dirty children, snapping pictures of some of the sickest patients, and finding the heat and dampness almost intolerable.
When the boats came to return the women to their cruise ship every woman had her picture taken with Dr. Schweitzer as proof of the visit for friends back home.
Frederick Frank, one of the hospitals assistants, asked Schweitzer why he allowed these interruptions.
"One never knows," he replied," One never knows exactly which person is in real need of help."
The point of this story is, I think, is to encourage each of us to be a little kinder than we think we can be; to be a little better than we were yesterday; to be little braver, and a little more patient.
It encourages us to look after ourselves by being aware that the needs of others may be far greater than our own. It asks us to look within and forgive our own faults as we forgive the faults of others.
There is a wise Jewish saying that is often said during these High Holy Days that goes:
"If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?"
We do have an obligation to look out for ourselves but we also have an obligation to look out for the others in our lives.
I think if we can practice being at one with others and ourselves; with our inner selves and our public selves then we will understand the meaning of atonement. We will be at one with our world and our universe.
Then we can see that one never knows exactly which person is in real need of help.
And we can respond by saying, "I am able, I can do this.
I have the energy through my groundedness, my relationship to the heavens, and my interconnectedness with others.
I am able."
Then we can honestly say, "I can live this life wisely and well."
And there isn't a better way to look after number 1.
Amen