Forty-six days of the Omer: Eternal Divine Presence
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Today is forty-six days, which is six weeks and four days of the Omer, נצח שבשכינה, Netzach ShebeShechinah. Eternal Divine Indwelling.
Today, I participated in a Facebook conversation regarding the tragedy in Holland, the legal murder of a seventeen year-old. Obviously my word choice tells you what I think about euthanasia for children suffering from trauma and mental health issues. Others will claim it is disrespectful to judge, or that if I knew more people suffering I would be more respectful of the choice to die when one is not physically terminally ill.
I have been through the darkness of depression. I experienced suicidal ideation. I am extremely grateful to live in a country that does not normalize death as a response to mental illness. Call the national Suicide Prevention Hotline if you or anyone you know is suicidal.
It is deeply true that the brain of a teenager is not the same as the brain of an adult. And the brain keeps growing and changing throughout life, especially through the mid-20s.
There are better and worse ways to respond to suicidal ideation.
I don't believe everything happens for a reason. I don't believe the universe only gives you as much as you can handle. I take the Shoah seriously. I take the human capacity for evil seriously. I take structural violence seriously.
While I don't believe life is preordained by the Divine, I believe deeply in the Eternal Divine Presence.
May we all make space for holiness and may we be the vessels that help others find their way towards wholeness.