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It is a new year. Time to wipe the slate clean, repair our lives and move forward anew with the resolution to become better individuals, better citizens and better human beings.
The past cannot be changed but we can move forward in spite of ourselves. We all have made mistakes that we regret. It is the nature of being human. How often have you made a mistake and suffered with others not allowing you to get past it? Would you not do anything you could to take it back? To relive the past to correct the error? By realizing that fallibility in ourselves, how can we point the finger and judge others? Doesn't that make us the same as them?
I have been accused of trying to kill people with my words; that I should not state my opinion though I feel a compelling reason to do otherwise. I have been told to not get involved. Not getting involved is the narrow-mindedness that perpetuates our social ills. It is our duty to be involved with others. Inaction and silence does not resolve issues.
A person is murdered on the streets of any metropolitan city. Fifty people are present, but no one sees a thing. By becoming introverted, what are we doing to repair the world? Nothing. We are only granting our permission for it to continue in its present state. Our unwillingness to get involved makes us complicit in the murder. We become accessories after the fact.
There is no Satan. There is no outside force causing evil in the world. We our the only adversaries we ever need. It is time to take inventory of our actions and our inactions. We cannot change the past. We can only resolve to turn from the wrong path and get our lives back on track.
This is our purpose: To help in repairing the world by first repairing ourselves. Nobody can do it for us, but we do not have to do it alone. Only when we practice teshuvah ourselves can we help others to do the same in their lives, and help them we must. Life is not a spectator sport.
L'Shanah tovah tikatevu v'techatemu!