Each day of our counting we focus on two sefirot, two energy levels of the 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, engaging with this Energy of Expansive Love.

We all have the capacity to love, however to actualise and express it in a productive and positive manner takes work. Unless my love includes the other six aspects of Chesed—which we will be covering in the coming days—it will be distorted and unable to be truly realised.

The challenge that stands in front of us as 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 darkness, those habits and thoughts that 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.

Freedom provides us with is the possibility 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.