There is a Peanuts cartoon that poses food for thought for the High Holy Days. In the cartoon, Lucy walks toward Charlie Brown, who is standing on the pitching mound. She tosses him the baseball and says, “Sorry, I missed that easy fly ball. I thought I had it, but suddenly I remembered all the others I’ve missed. The past got in my eyes!”
The purpose of the High Holy Days is to acknowledge the past, deal with it, and ask for forgiveness for our failures. The hope is that we can symbolically leave the year behind and begin our new year with a clean slate. Of course, you never truly escape your past, both the good and the bad. But this cartoon reminds us that if we choose to allow it, the past can continue to influence our present and, in turn, our future.
-Author Unknown
