Author of the blog Words Have Wings
Lech Lecha: When it is Finally Time to Go
Home (photo by Leann Shamash)
#breisheet #lechlecha #parshatlechlecha #avraham #sarai #genesis #parshathashavua #parashathashavua #journeys #downsizing #aging
Parashat Lech Lecha is about journeys, but it is also a chance to learn more about the first pivotals figures in our long and storied history. Within these few chapters we discover more about the great Avram and Sarai. From the rabbis we learn about Avram’s emunah, his deep belief, but through his actions we also learn about his conviction and courage.
Here stands Avram, a man seventy five years young, still maintaining the formidable organizational power to move himself and their sizable household, their properties and holdings. By his side, Sarai, known not only for her beauty, but for her strength, becomes a true partner in this move.
One can only imagine that Avram and Sarai had a wide network of friends and business associates in this place they called home. Their dwelling place was probably large and well furnished with the the conveniences of the time. The climate was known and expected; the view from their home the same each day. They knew what to expect and were probably comfortable.
Avram and Sarah made their decision. Did they contemplate? What did they consider? We cannot know their process in coming to a decision, but we can imagine the fortitude it took to make and execute this voyage into the unknown.
So many generations in the future, as the Baby Boomers age out of their homes, there are many difficult decisions to be made. What to do with property, possessions, artifacts and heirlooms? Where will go and how do they prepare to leave their homes behind? This next short piece explores these feelings.
Before the poem, just a positive note for those of us aging. Avram and Sarai began their live’s big adventure when they were 75! A dugma to all of us!
____________
They sit together at the kitchen table
as a shivering television mumbles nonsense.
Forty watt candle bulbs shine down
exposing fine lines spreading on their foreheads.
Eyes meet, yet words are
unspoken
in this kitchen,
the beating heart of this home
since,
since,
well, what seems forever ago.
So many busy, noisy years
have now become loose around the edges.
Empty rooms only grow bigger each day,
and once it seemed so much sunnier,
in this precious place they call home.
Here they sit and words hover, like fairy dust,
between them,
covering over memories.
Ribbono Shel Olam,
teach them to see,
to read between the faded bedspreads,
among memories that linger
beneath grandparent’s framed sepia pictures
hanging sober faced on the walls.
Teach them how to leave it all behind.
The steep stairs squeaking in protest,
the balding carpets,
the piano, so out of tune.
To close the door one last time,
with that final decisive click
they begin their journey to the unknown.
Please
open their eyes to see
the bush burns bright with embers that never fade.
Help them find the wisdom,
the courage,
the vision and fortitude
to leave what is familiar behind them
and pack their memories neatly away,
for there is still more to come.
Help them know when it is time to go.
Help them know when it is time to go.
Related Topics
