Day Two: Journey of the Soul: Making the Omer Count

 Today we share a poem by David Whyte, entitled “The Opening of Eyes.”  This poem references the moment in the Torah when our ancestor Moses comes upon a bush that is burning with fire but is not consumed. He stops, notices, turns to the bush. (Exodus 3:1-5)  It is Moses’ curiosity and awareness that leads God to address him from “inside the bush,” instructing him to take off his shoes.  We invite you to think about what this poem awakens within you.

The Opening of Eyes

That day I saw beneath dark clouds
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then, as I had before,
life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.

It is the opening of eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far-off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years
of secret conversing
speaking out loud in the clear air.

It is Moses in the desert
fallen to his knees before the lit bush.
It is the man throwing away his shoes
as if to enter heaven
and finding himself astonished,
opened at last,
fallen in love with solid ground.

-David Whyte

In these 49 days of the Omer, we are called to look deeply and closely at what is unfolding in our lives right now — both the miraculous and the very mundane. The world reveals itself to us as we pay attention to the ground we stand on in this present moment.

The questions to each one of us on this second day of the Omer are: To what aspect of our lives are we ready to open our eyes? What calls out to us upon our looking? What, in our own hearts, needs to be spoken “out loud?” 

Mindfulness practice: Take off your shoes (weather permitting, it is powerful to do this outside.)  What does it feel like to stand on solid ground?

Blessing for Counting the Omer:

Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha’Olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sefirat ha’omer.

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Holy One of Blessing, who makes us holy with sacred obligations and commands us to count the Omer.

Counting: Today is the second day of the Omer : Hayom yom sheini la’omer.

Blessings to you on this new day. We are delighted to journey together.

Rabbi Jill Zimmerman and Rabbi Cindy Enger