It’s the nature of becoming to stretch us…

Sharing is good

It’s that time of year again. Passover – Jewish spring cleaning, the penultimate storytelling experience, good food, family and friends. It’s also an amazing point in the calendar to learn about yourself.

Last year I used the tablecloth itself to sketch the seder and had those around the table to add their thoughts and sketched to the tabletop. This year I am in a new place and home, having just left the corporate world and moved from Virginia to Florida. This is a scary change for my family and in some small way parallels the Passover story.

Yes, change is scary. Growth is scary. Trying an unfamiliar practice can be scary. And in some way, all of that is precisely the point. The Peach story is one of taking a leap into the unknown, leaving behind slavery’s familiar trappings for a journey of becoming. It’s the nature of becoming to stretch us, to ask us to grow into more than we knew we could be. ~Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

We all stand at the edge of the Sea of Reeds, fearing that which is behind us, fearing the unknown in front of us, and hoping that the sea will part to make our crossing over possible. What happens if I cross the sea and fail on the other side? Do I swim back into the slavery of large corporate life because it’s comfortable? Or do I stay on this side of the sea, stretch myself in new ways, and trust that that stretching will help me to become who I am supposed to be?

My thanks to Rabbi Rachel for posting On removing leaven (again) at the exact time that I needed wisdom, strength, encouragement, and spirit to bolster my courage to stay on this side and not fall back into the comforts of that which is known.