Nature's Promise

Newsletter January 29, 2024 Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

The budding almond branch is among the first signs in nature that the harshest part of the winter is coming to an end, and spring promises to emerge. It is a sign of hope that things get better.

The Jewish holiday that we observed last week, Tu B'Shvat, honors this idea and the hope it inspires. In fact the Hebrew term almond (shakeid) comes from the root Hebrew word for awaken (shakad), as the almond tree awakens us to the sense that there is hope after brutally cold times.

Biblical Aaron's staff was said to have been made of an almond branch, and it would bloom each Tu B'Shvat to remind people of the good that is yet to come. Perhaps it is also there to remind us that God is awake to the people's experiences and is encouraging us to hold hope yet for our future.

This kind of hope is so critical for human beings. When people can't see past any challenge they are experiencing, the human heart breaks. Hope keeps our spirits alive.

This is why the "It Gets Better" project is so impactful. It reminds those who are awakening to their LGBTQ identities that even though it might be hard or scary or actually dangerous to come out now, it gets better. There is yet hope out there.

And, this also might be the reason that Jewish tradition so emphasizes hope (tikvah) in our texts. We have, as individuals and as a community, survived through some exceedingly dark times, but we have emerged and done our best to hold out hope.

So, whatever you are personally going through right now, this is the season to look at the gifts of the natural world around us and appreciate the promise of a brighter future. And if you'd like a community to travel that path with you, please join our Healing Circle Thursdays at 10:30am PT.

Truly, together, we’re keeping it positive. Together, we're #keepingitsacred…

Rabbi Heather Miller

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

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The above is an excerpt from a Keeping It Sacred newsletter. If you want to read the entire newsletter or any from our archives, please head over to: keepingitsacred.com/news 

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Thanks for your interest, and thanks for #keepingitsacred...