God

On Thursday we wrote letters to God. I gave them a rubric, with specific things to include, like their sins from the past year, and what they were proud of, and their goals for the future. They asked me what we were going to do with the letters, and I said "mail them to Him". They asked if we could send them up on a balloon, and I agreed to let them.

I bought (my roommate bought) 8 Happy Birthday balloons (to the world for Rosh HaShanah) and I brought them to school for the letters. But paper is way too heavy for the balloons, which were weaker than I imagined, and so we couldn't send up the letters. So instead I had them address the letters to the Kotel. To the balloons we stuck post-its and tied messages to the tail that were small and light, and then we let go of the balloons in the field outside the school where we did Tashlich by the cute little pond.

This afternoon (24 hours later) 2 of the balloons were found in a city 17 miles away. The people wrote to me (I put my school address on them), and wished us well on behalf of God, Christianity, and their families. I love the universe. I feel like it's been a partner now in the education of my students, and in my faith in man and therefore in God. I want to give thanks for the kindness of people, the curiosity we all share, the religion that brings us together and allows us to be human, and the children whose letters really did reach God.

If He isn't smiling now, right before Yom Kippur, then what?