It is time again to DO Elul, to DO reflection, to DO the work of turning and returning, of reckoning.

Do I have any ideas about what to do with do?
Do I want to ask a set of questions?
Do I dare declare that I will write daily for this month?
Do I stare into space wondering what to do?
Do I listen to the crickets, the chorus of late summer sounds?
Do I pause in the sweetness of anticipation, the last long days before the school year begins?
Do I watch my anxiety rise as I worry about how this coming year will go?
Do I let go of what might have been and step boldly into this new phase of my life?
Do I know what I want to do next?
Do I furrow my brow in deep concentration as I try to formulate questions from this summer of strife?
Do I dare to hope that my work in the world might just make a difference?
Do I allow myself to be shattered by the terrible realities of how we humans treat each other and the earth?
Do I know how to allow light and growth to fill in the new spaces the shattering opens?

Elul is for me this year a rush of waters moving rapidly towards a still point of quiet contemplation, the promise of the DAYS of AWE.

#BlogElul is a set of daily prompts for reflection during the Hebrew month of Elul, hosted by Rabbi Phyllis Sommer at imabima.blogspot.com.