If you somehow found out that you had one day left to live (God forbid), what would you do? Or rather, what would you do differently? We don’t know when we will die, and we generally act as if there’s always another tomorrow, another opportunity, another day. Judaism recognizes our human nature and tells us to repent one day before death. Since we don’t know when that is, we should repent – perform t’shuvah, every day.
It took a while, but the craftspeople returned the bowl to him. It looked somewhat different than before, but it was beautiful. In repairing the bowl, The artisans created a new art form, named kintsugi. Translated as golden joinery and still popular today, its artisans mend areas of breakage with powdered metals. It does not try to patch them up or blend them so that they aren’t noticeable. From a Philosophical perspective, kintsugi seeks to highlight an object’s imperfections.
Whether it’s driving to Atlanta in the morning or being the unfortunate victim of downtown gridlock just after a UGA game … Oh my gosh, the traffic was so bad … It took me 15 minutes to get across Milledge Ave … We’ve all been there.
But here’s the thing that most of us don’t realize. Even as we complain about traffic, each of us contributes to the traffic … We are the traffic!
1968 was a difficult year. Racial discord and foreign conflicts created an atmosphere of tension and anger. Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were both assassinated. The United States was embroiled in the war in North Vietnam. The Cold War continued to escalate. There were student protests taking place throughout America, some resulting in violence. The zeitgeist of the country was one of anger, frustration and sadness. People were discontent. In fact, the editors of Time Magazine chose as its Man of the Year, The Dissenter.