The challenge is that stands in front of us before we begin our journey, is to choose freedom. With freedom comes truth. In slavery is the illusion, the pretence of life. The journey from slavery to freedom is filled with challenges, demanding that we release the chains that keep us stuck in our pain, those habits and thoughts that cause great pain. They keep us separate from realising our potential, convincing us of our limitations, our smallnesses. Our external slavery is a metaphor for the slavery we experience internally.

The paradox of slavery is that it is safe. There is security in being able to blame the external world for the challenges I experience. There is safety in someone else making the decisions, of not having to take responsibility for the choices you make in your life.

Each day of our counting we focus on two sefirot, two energy levels of the kabbalistic Tree of Life. Today we begin our journey with Chesed, the sefirah of Lovingkindness, of Emotional Energy. This first day brings Chesed into Chesed. Focus on the sphere of light at the right shoulder, releasing this Energy of Expansive Love.

Freedom opens us to the choice to expand. I am free to choose how to live, free to change myself and through my choices, change my world. However, with greater freedom also comes greater responsibility, demanding that we become more aware of the Energy we all carry. There is an awesome quality to this freedom. We are able to respond more fully to ourselves, to one another and to the world.

In this way, the Omer Journey becomes a metaphor for our personal journey from the confines of a place of self-delusion to the wonder of renewed self-creation. This is the task to which we are called by our Tradition. The life of this Universe calls each of us to experience the fullness of our own life. In this way we participate fully in Creation itself.