You do what you can to make your own luck, but this holiday, Yom Kippur, says that beyond a certain point, even when you've done everything it is humanly possible to do, there's a step beyond which it's just not in mortal hands to control.
Actually Yom Kippur - like Judaism - is very much focused on human effort, rather than human helplessness.
The literal translation of "kippur" means "cover" - it's the same word used when G-d commands Noah to coat his ship with pitch, or to describe the cover of the holy ark with its cherubs.
G-d "covers" for us - suspending judgement and punishment, softening consequences - until we can change our actions.
Because human choice and action are the focus, and the true marker of "atonement".
It is a grace - that is earned.
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Amen, bro.
[Removed by Site Owner. That'll do.]
Actually Yom Kippur - like Judaism - is very much focused on human effort, rather than human helplessness.
The literal translation of "kippur" means "cover" - it's the same word used when G-d commands Noah to coat his ship with pitch, or to describe the cover of the holy ark with its cherubs.
G-d "covers" for us - suspending judgement and punishment, softening consequences - until we can change our actions.
Because human choice and action are the focus, and the true marker of "atonement".
It is a grace - that is earned.