On 20-Sep-2006, "Dan Kimmel" <daniel.kimmel@rcn.com> wrote:

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 5767. On Shabbat morning we'll
be reading Genesis Chapter 21, which begins, "The Lord took note of
Sarah as He had promised." That phrase sets the tone for the High
Holidays. Now it us of whom God will "take note" by - we hope -
inscribing us in the Book of Life for a good year ahead. The lines
of communication to God are always open, the liturgy tells us, and
our deeds all year long are recorded, but it is during the period
from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur that we become acutely aware of
falling within heavenly oversight. At times we act like a noisy
classroom just told the teacher is coming down the hall. (Quick,
look busy!) Perhaps we should "take note" as well, and strive to be
better Jews, better people, better parents, better spouses, and
better children in the coming year. As my late friend David Brudnoy
put it in the title of his memoir, "Life is not a dress rehearsal."

I have always read in that that HaShem always has us "in mind",
even if we think he's not paying attention to us at whatever time
we may feel abandoned. That His plans for us are not incumbent
on our timetable.

Suzy