Tiferet SheBeTiferet. Compassion within Balance. Balance within Compassion. Beauty within Balance. Balance within Beauty. Beauty within Compassion. Compassion within Beauty. Compassion within Compassion.
A little process note. One of my favorite parts about this blog adventure has been starting each post with the mix and match of interpretive translations of the attribute names. That is where things start to fall into place, as one or two combinations particularly speak to me, make me draw breath in a new way. I highly recommend it as a jumping off point for anyone who is looking to develop their own practice for this time in our spiritual year.
What stood out to me this time was Beauty within Balance. Yes, there is beauty in balance! I was very much heartened by Rabbi Levy's writing on this day. She notes that "it is easy to go astray, to lose our balance... It takes practice to return again and again to beauty and love." Her approach reminds me that I WILLL mess up. That's fine. My main concern is what I do with it when it happens.
This brings me to the other out-stander: Compassion within Compassion. As I go through this sacred time of counting and aspiring to spiritual growth, this day's focus puts me in touch with my tendency to be hard on myself. And so, my goals for this day become clear: 1) Notice when I get out of balance and hit the reset button; 2) Go into a compassionate place for myself, accepting my human frailty. To quote the "Big Book" of AA once again, "We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection."
For the abbreviated version, visit me on Twitter.
For a couple of different Omer counting guides try mishkan.org or chabad.org.