#BlogExodus – That Which Plagues Us

I love this year’s Exodus Internet project, #BlogExodus, found on Twitter.  And this year, #ImaBima has challenged regular and occasional bloggers to post on a new topic each day as we prepare for Passover. While I was excited to engage in this project, the past few days have passed me by without being able to post on the daily topic. I have been plagued with a busy schedule preventing me from being able to spend time reflecting and writing.

All of us have our plagues in life. We are plagued by too many commitments; plagued by having to juggle not only our own schedules but also the schedules of our family – children or elderly parents. We are plagued with health issues; plagued by not having time for ourselves; we are plagued by unfulfilled goals; plagued by demands placed on us by others. We are plagued by not being in touch with our emotions; plagued by not realizing our passions; plagued by not knowing how to act on our passions; plagued by someone else fulfilling our visions when we did not have the courage to do so ourselves.

And while each of these ten plagues and so many others that go unnamed, and seem to darken our world, we are challenged to recognize them, name them and then learn how to walk through them.

Do these plagues control our lives or are we able to gain control of them, stripping each one down to its basic core and recognizing how we might shed it’s control over our lives? A plague can destroy us or it can strengthen us as we remove it from controlling each moment.

Our magid, retelling of the story of Passover, is not just to remind us of our history and our passage to freedom thousands of years ago. Our magid is our opportunity to tell our story today, recognize that which plagues us and then free ourselves from that which enslaves us.

What are your plagues and how will you move from the darkness that envelops you so that you may join the march toward freedom and light? May this Passover season be one that brings all of us to a new freedom and an embrace of the light of redemption that’s just within reach.