Usable Wisdom for the Three Weeks Before Election Day
Happy new moon of Cheshvan! This Shabbat is a time of renewal when we re-scroll the Torah to begin again at Genesis—and revel in the ongoing powers of creation.
We will need it! Our 2020 election is 18 days away, and any way we slice it, these will be formidable times. They require each of us be grounded, steady, and connected to our highest values.
I invite you to try these 3 Self-Care Practices to help activate your spiritual power and magnify your positive intentions. I have personally found them to be extremely helpful.
1. Remove your cell phone from your bedroom.
As every athlete knows, our power lies in our recovery. Deep rest is critical to be sharp and on our game. Our cultural addiction to our devices can drain away psychic energy and weaken our connection to the subtle signals that guide us. Give your phone a rest at night (and invest in an old-fashioned alarm clock) to drop into a more restorative sleep. You will feel the difference.
2. Make a love-offering each day.
Don’t let a day go by without some tiny act of kindness. Feed the birds, sing a prayer, write a check, thank a political leader who has done good, honor an ancestor. When we give freely from our heart, without any other motive but love, we open an invisible energy circuit between us and the world, and the world responds in like measure. Start that wheel spinning!
3. Say this affirmation daily: I align myself with the forces of Good.
I share this childlike affirmation at the risk of sounding silly. Call me superstitious, but I believe that these words are apotropaic, meaning that they are protective and will help avert negative influences (of which there are many nowadays). In addition, say the voting blessing (below) as you cast your ballot on or before November 3, whether by mail or in person.
Image created by Kohenet Marni Rothman, @jewess_dept_of_magic.
I want to offer you this passage from Psalms that you might also read aloud as you cast your ballot:
May God's beauty rest upon us. May the acts of our hands direct and correct us. May the acts of our hands direct and correct the divine presence on earth. (Ps. 90:17)
We are living in a highly unstable time when we need to call on one another and all of our spiritual tools to help right our planetary ship. To this end, I hope you will join me for a powerful series on healing our ancestral traumas just after the election, November 8-22, in conversation with Indigenous leader Dr. Anita Sanchez, and NY Times bestselling author and teacher Resmaa Menakem, through the SAND network. Register here for this three-part series: The Breath of the Ancestors.
You may also wish to study with me and some of the world's great thinkers — Charles Eisenstein, Deepak Chopra, Mirabai Starr and many more — during this time of transition in the online Dying & Living event next week October 21-25. My talk will be on Sunday, October 25 at 1pm MT.
With you in love and solidarity as we work to renew creation,
Rabbi Tirzah
PS: Looking for more ways to get engaged in this election?
Join me in making a donation to Movement Voter Project.
Vote out Fear with Bend the Arc’s phone and text banking events.
