And If Today.
Today is our last day, and all is the same.
But you don’t know, I do.
I wonder if you will know when the time comes, when we lay down with you
for the last time this afternoon,
when we hold your paws and tell you we love you.
Will you know then? Will you be relieved that you can rest and relax?
Will you exhale into the mystery?
This morning, just like yesterday morning and the morning before and the morning before,
with no change to our routine-
You hear me, you begin to stir from your chair in the dark room next to the
kitchen,
You come closer,
together we open the door of the world,
What is here?
Oh sweetie, we have seen it all.
Full moons, huge puddles, coldest of mornings,
Branches down, long wide slugs, and the cicadas singing their song.
We’ve grown older, together.
But today, your last day, this is the last song to be song.
Today, it’s so quiet. The snow has come and you look up at me,
knowing it will be cold for your little paws and wanting to get right back
inside to warmth and breakfast and to lay down.
The days are too long for you now, the time has come.
My blessed first “baby”, you have been so naughty for so many years,
it has not always been easy to care for you or love you.
And yet I do.
And now it’s time to say,
Thank you.
Goodbye.
I bless you on your journey.
You will be on your way today at sunset, before Shabbat.
The most sacred time to transition- so that your soul will shift into REST.
You will be granted REST as the first stop on the journey of souls.
Honoring the wisdom of the week in these words:
“Listen and Love
Listen as you wrestle with life.
Listen as you feel into your relationship with all being.
Listen into the oneness of all that is.
And love.
Love with all you heart, all your soul and all your strength.
Place love upon your hearts.
Teach love to your children.
Speak from love in your home and as you walk on your way.
Take love with you as you lie down and as you rise up.
Carry love in your hands,
Place love before your eyes,
Inscribe love upon your gates.
Listen deeply into the calls for connection.
Love and serve the Unfolding of All Life with all your heart and soul.
Be aware of your relationship with earth and all beings.
Serve what is true.
Place words upon your heart, upon your soul, in your hands and before your eyes
That will help you remember
To act for the well-being of earth,
To act for the benefit of all life,
To act so as to leave a bountiful and gracious land
For those who will call you ancestor. “
Rabbi Yael Levy
