There’s something very powerful about counting. We use counting in a whole variety of ways… Counting down to something that we’re excited for - I think about advent calendars for Christmas. Counting to warn someone, like saying to a child “I’m going to count to three”…what happens at three?Most of us hope that we never get there and the kid does what he’s supposed to. Counting to calm ourselves. Counting to get through something difficult. Counting to mark the passage of time.
For the last several days I have been counting. Rachel Goldberg, the mother of Hersch Goldberg-Polin, an American citizen who was wounded and taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th,
started wearing a piece of tape with the number of days that her son and others have been held hostage. She’s been doing it for a while, but on day 100 I joined her. 100 days… It’s a really long time. 100 days of worry, uncertainty, pain. But it didn’t stop at 100. As of today we’re at at 105. And I keep counting. I keep changing the piece of tape I wear on my clothing and adding another day.
I do this and post it and wear it out in public so that it calls attention to those being held captive. I do this so that I don’t lose track so that the days don’t blur together. I do this to remind myself that each day is precious and each day not knowing and not being able to see these beloved family members and friends is a lost day.
A friend shared that he’s now adding the number of days when he prays in the morning. He adds it in after praying for the release of captives and after the prayer for peace. What a powerful way to count.
I hope we get to stop counting soon. In the meantime, I hope we all find ways to mark the passage of time and keep these poor hostages in the forefront until they are rescued.
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