224 - Tisha B'Av

July 26, 2001

Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, occurs this year on July 29th. A day of fasting, it commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, and many other tragedies that befell the Jewish people on that day. Yet there is a teaching that on the afternoon of this day of mourning, the Messiah will be born. So out of personal tragedy, God will restore us: even as we weep, our tears will water ground for new growth.

Two Hundred Twenty-Four

Tisha B'Av

Imbedded in my soul, the sharp remembrance:
Stories of destruction and exile, separation.
Come to me, Healing One, in the long hours of recall;
Hear my lamentation, my search for renewal.

Just as the holy places, I suffered disaster,
Removed from life's vigor and meaning;
I witnessed my surrender to body's catastrophe:
Broken, the damaged vessel could only submit.

I sit upon the low places of my consciousness,
Recounting the recurring tragedies;
Yet each time, I was comforted, cared for.
In darkness, You sent ministering agents.

Let me make of my mourning a pledge,
Ceding sorrow, then relinquishing sadness;
Sanctify my grief as I move toward wholeness,
Renew me, renew me.

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