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Q's
& A's
Is There Hope for the
Earth?
Yom Kippur presents us with a thesis and an antithesis.
First, the thesis: This day is celebrated because
it brings the good news that renewal is possible,
it promotes optimism and self-confidence, and
it counteracts guilt and despair by releasing
us from enslavement to our bad choices, and by
assuring us that correct intentions for the future
redeem and atone for the past. But should our
thesis, lead us to imagine that all of our mistakes
are revocable? The truth is that the world operates
according to laws. Consequences follow upon certain
acts, and those consequences can be enduring.
This is our antithesis: Repentance cannot be made
into a substitute for responsibility. Is there
a synthesis that binds our thesis to our antithesis?
It is, perhaps, this: we must believe in the power
of repentance, and find the courage to change
precisely in the hope that it is never too late.
But we must also understand that one of God's
greatest gifts to us is the very lawlike quality
of the world, for it makes us into true moral
agents, able to anticipate consequences, and make
free and responsible choices. (Adapted from COEJL
Website, “A
Yom Kippur Sermon”) |
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