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Atoning for some sins
Sep. 29th, 2006 07:19 amIt seems to me that there are a variety of ways to atone for sins. A very Jewish way to do that is repentance: you acknowledge your sin, you try to fix it (I think), you apologize, and you try very hard not to do it again.
A less Jewish way to atone for sins is what I think would be called penance - maybe I am using the wrong word, but this would be the idea of giving yourself some sort of consequences/punishment for the sin you did. (Along with the acknowleding the sin part, of course).
Well, what I did yesterday was a bit more like the latter. In my apartment, I am not so good about keeping my stuff out of the public spaces. I am not so good about doing my weekly cleaning job. People pick up the slack for me often.
I should try to work on that (repentance) - but it is hard! I do work on it... really... but not with much success.
So, instead, I cleaned the fridge. It took an hour and a half. And was desperately needed. And we were going to split it up among all of us, but really, there was no way to take out the bottom shelf without getting the top ones out of the way. So I did all of it. Took an hour and a half. But it needed it, my apartment mates deserved it, and I felt good when it was done.
Now, I just need to work on the actual problem: my own mess...
In other news, I saw an entire flock of Monarch butterflies yesterday. Twice. Something I have never seen before in my life. And here I am, in the middle of a major city...
I eat lunch in a community garden near one of my schools. They were all over this flower bush with purple flowers. Every time the wind stirred the bush, they'd all fly up and change places.
And then I got to see them again at the end of the day. That school has the class where I work with two students. The class has been doing a unit on moths and butterflies, because they caught a moth in the classroom. Well, the assistant teacher saw the butterflies on her own lunch break, and caught one. At the end of the day, the students let it go. And saw all the other butterflies. Very cool.
A less Jewish way to atone for sins is what I think would be called penance - maybe I am using the wrong word, but this would be the idea of giving yourself some sort of consequences/punishment for the sin you did. (Along with the acknowleding the sin part, of course).
Well, what I did yesterday was a bit more like the latter. In my apartment, I am not so good about keeping my stuff out of the public spaces. I am not so good about doing my weekly cleaning job. People pick up the slack for me often.
I should try to work on that (repentance) - but it is hard! I do work on it... really... but not with much success.
So, instead, I cleaned the fridge. It took an hour and a half. And was desperately needed. And we were going to split it up among all of us, but really, there was no way to take out the bottom shelf without getting the top ones out of the way. So I did all of it. Took an hour and a half. But it needed it, my apartment mates deserved it, and I felt good when it was done.
Now, I just need to work on the actual problem: my own mess...
In other news, I saw an entire flock of Monarch butterflies yesterday. Twice. Something I have never seen before in my life. And here I am, in the middle of a major city...
I eat lunch in a community garden near one of my schools. They were all over this flower bush with purple flowers. Every time the wind stirred the bush, they'd all fly up and change places.
And then I got to see them again at the end of the day. That school has the class where I work with two students. The class has been doing a unit on moths and butterflies, because they caught a moth in the classroom. Well, the assistant teacher saw the butterflies on her own lunch break, and caught one. At the end of the day, the students let it go. And saw all the other butterflies. Very cool.
