A Poem for Shabbat

In the wonderful world of social networking, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, or via this blog, the connections made between people who might never ordinarily meet can be deeply enriching.  While, like so many things connected to new technology, there is the 'dark side', on the whole I have found it to be a great blessing to both reach out and be reached by the world of connections facilitated by these still relatively new technologies.  In truth, there's a spiritual quality to the possibilities for me - I have made some very special connections with people over sharing thoughts about faith, poetry, and life experiences.

This is all in preamble to today's blog offering, which is a re-posting from a sweet and spiritual blog, http://staceyzrobinson.blogspot.com/ - a blogger based in Skokie, IL.  Stacey shared a poem for Shabbat a little while back on her blog.  We connected via twitter and, exploring her blog, I found some wonderful, down-to-earth heart-felt observations and sharing about life, and a sense of the spiritual in the everyday.  That's my kind of blog. I look forward to reading more in the coming months, and I hope you will too.

In the meantime, here is her poem for Shabbat.  May we all be blessed with stepping across the threshold, into a peaceful Shabbat.
Rabbi Rachel Gurevitz

A poem for Shabbat  by Stacey Robinson

And so we stand

On the edge of this week

Pebbles strewn at our feet

The distance between us an endless heartbeat

The difference like night

Like day

Like light and darkness

Like God

Who separates the days

And brings us

Ever and always

To this holy edge

To this Shabbat

Where we stand

Trembling with effort

Weary from a week filled with

Noise and action and movement

Restless and driven

From one moment to the next

Until we are brought to this edge

This endless and always edge

To this Shabbat

Sacred and at peace

We pause

We breathe

At rest

Separate

Together

With God

Together

With one another

In a flickerflame of candle light

The setting of the sun

From one breath to the next

One heartbeat

We stand on the edge and cross into the infinite

As one

Into peace

Into Shabbat