Our plan on Sunday is to light our prayers on fire. 😬
Our beloved new year’s tradition is to write prayers on special flammable Flying Wish Paper, rolling it into a tube and lighting the corner, it burns down in a small and brilliant flame, at the last moment it lifts into the air, offering our prayer up to the Beloved. But, it hits differently this week after watching the ravaging fires in California.
A Southern California pastor I follow posted on social media this week that she wishes their church hadn’t called their January worship series “Ignite.” 🫣
Another pastor whose church is in the Hollywood Hills area is doing a daily short video from the church to offer some sense of sanctuary for her community while many are still evacuated.
Rabbi Amy Bernstein of Kehillat Israel in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood said in an interview that 1/3 of her congregation have lost their homes, including her own, but the synagogue remains standing. One of the few remaining buildings for blocks. NBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff, who grew up in the Palisades Jewish community, has been sharing deeply personal reports from his hometown. He walked through the Synagogue with the Rabbi where they found the floor of the main entrance dusted with ash that blew in under the glass doors. “The remnants of the Palisades is right here.”
“From dust we came, to dust we shall return.” (Genesis 3:16)
Dust to dust, stardust to stardust, it’s a text we often refer to as reminder of our cosmic connection to all things. Galactic chemical evolution, every element of the earth was was made from stars and supernovas, a mix of humus, minerals, metals, and yes, ash. All the elements of our planet; carbon, oxygen, silicon, calcium, and sodium come from the explosive death of ancient stars.
The “dust” in the entry way of the Synagogue is what remains of neighboring houses, a holy mix of memories and the tangible things of a life lived within the walls of a home. The smoke from the fires is picked up by the jet stream, eventually particulates of these communities, homes, and lives will make their way around the globe.
“From dust we came, to dust we shall return.”
More than a nice quote for funerals and Ash Wednesday, in our time of hyper-individualism, isolation and loneliness, these words from Genesis ground and reconnect us to the greater whole of which we are part of, and is part of us. The reminder that the literal matter from which we are made connects us to all things, all that has been and all that ever will be. Ashen memories sneak in the cracks of the door and are scattered to the corners of the world.
I have considered changing our plan for Sunday, but there is something about the mingling of Holy dust that feels like an important affirmation of our connection to the people, communities, flora, fauna, wildlife, and holy ground of the LA area.
With the greatest caution, we will use Flying Wish Paper to offer our prayers, wishes, and blessings, up into the cosmos, dust to dust and prayer to prayer.
Sunday, January 12 at 4 pm
110 Eleventh Ave. SE
Upstairs
Kiddo care
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