The three legs that the world and I stand on:
Torah (a frame to understand our universe), Avoda (reflecting deeply and work), and Gmilut Hassidim (treating others kindly)
The Torah of seeing the divine spark in each person
Striving for exchanges that allow each person to connect with that spark
Knowing that the inability to see or connect with their holy essence
Could lead to violence, humiliation, invisibility, marginality, and dehumanization
Seeing and joining with each other’s light generates more light, love, and oneness
The Avoda of introspection, changing practices in places and times, that lift us out of oppression and victimization
Knowing that the removal of hate and conflict leaves a void that needs to be substituted with a more joyous vision
Of a world beyond the pain of what exists now –for so many– and flows from our imagination that invents new loving, just, and caring worlds into a future peaceful reality
Working daily, as we rise, as if it’s our last day on earth, to empower love with those we know and with those we will never meet
Understanding that the cyclical path forward needs to happen in our concentric circles of the home, school, community, city, country, and world
The Gmilut Hassidim of rising past our sometimes-limited ability to only see an image of ourselves when we look in the mirror and instead, truly seeing the faces of millions as our own.
The holy emergent act of kind giving and receiving that transform into celebrations of transcendent bonds that uplift, hold high, and center who we are and why we are here.
Ron Avi Astor is a professor at UCLA, a scholar, and an activist for safe, welcoming, and uplifting schools. @astoravi
