The image looks like a film set. The disheveled bed, the rubble on the floor, the tattered yellow window coverings. And then there is the man and his pipe, listening to his record player. This is Aleppo.
In the midst of unimaginable destruction an old man finds beauty. For a moment, he is transported by the music hears to a time before all seemed lost. The image conjures up so many thoughts and question about suffering, about my own role, or our collective role, in the tragedies we see unfolding around us everyday. Mostly though, this image reminds me of the words of Rabbi Daniel Hillel:
I get up. I walk. I fall down. Meanwhile I keep dancing.
The Spirit is calling us today to dance. Dance when we are filled with joy. Dance when we have fallen down. Dance when all seems lost.
For as long as God dwells within us, there is always some small glimmer of beauty. There is always a reason to keep dancing.
