In my last post, I spoke about my views on the Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur holiday season.  Mostly, though, I talked about our relation with God during these weeks, and how we turn to Him in true repentence for our misdeeds, and ask His mercy and forgiveness, and His blessing for the coming year.  It's a solemn time, but joyful, because the underlying assumption of the holidays is, that if we are truly penitient, then our petition will be answered.

This only applies to sins which we commit between ourselves and God, however.  After all, if we wrong another person, how can God forgive us?  Only the person we have wronged can do that.

Which brings me to the second main theme of the holidays, making amends.

This is a time of year that we try to track down the people we may have wronged, whether by hurting them physically, or emotionally, or in business or personal matters, and we try to apologize.

We also try to make amends, whether by paying back a debt, or fulfilling a promise, or even just admitting that we'd done wrong.  As you can imagine, for people who take on this burden, this time of year can be very trying.

It can also be uplifting.  There is something wonderful about approaching your friends and admitting that you aren't always the best person, and trying to do better, right then.  It's especially touching if your friends reciprocate.

All of this, this striving to improve our interpersonal relations, goes hand-in-hand with our inner striving to improve ourselves in God's eyes.  The two imperitives will strengthen each other, if you approach them honestly, and taken together, they can help you to make a really positive change in your own life.

And that's what this holiday season is about.