Day 14 of the Omer
April 18, 2015
DAY 14: FORTNIGHT
Two weeks out of Egypt, were our ancestors
footsore? First, the jubilation of skipping town
without even a sourdough starter --
then sandal-blisters, manna, and fear.
We don't know where this invisible God
will take us. We don't know how long
the walk will be, how safe the passage.
We don't know who we're becoming.
Then again, neither does God -- options
are infinite. Can we trust our guides
to find us water in the desert, wisdom
from the living well? The pillar of cloud lifts.
Strike camp. Take heart. Trust the unseen.
You're already different from when you began.
Today is the fourteenth day of the Omer, making two weeks of the Omer. We have traveled 14 days in our 49-day journey from Pesach to Shavuot, liberation to revelation.
When I thought of the number fourteen, I immediately thought of the sonnet, that classic 14-line form. This is an untraditional sonnet; it has neither rhyme nor meter, though I hope that some of the internal assonance will make up for that.
My favorite translation of the name God gives to Moshe -- Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh -- is "I am becoming Who I am becoming." God is always-becoming, and so are we.