Word of the Week -- Amends

He is to lay both hands on the head of he live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites--all their sins--and put them on the goat's head. he shall send the goat away into the desert...the goat will carry on itself all the sins to a solitary place. Leviticus 16

• Have you ever wondered where the term "scapegoat" originated? The above scripture reading is at least one reason we use that phrase. The need for such a practice arose because of the rebellious nature of the people. We should read Leviticus more often, because humans have passed down that rebelliousness through many generations to this very day.
  
• We could learn from this ritual, because we like to place all of our sins on a human being. For example: "The entire economy is (fill in the blank with a president)'s fault."---"My brother pushed me, so I hit him back"---"This coach needs to be fired" When we blame everything on one person, we spare our brain from working so hard. It takes time to consider the entire scope of a situation, and if we look too closely we might find that we are culpable as well.
  
• This Sunday, we will explore the ways that we can comfort rather than blame one another. We will explore how the Israelite community handled the sin of the entire community, and how that influences our path to forgiveness.