Counting the Omer

You shall count for yourselves -- from the day after the shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving -- seven shabbats, they shall be complete. Until the day after te seventh sabbath you shall count, fifty days... ~Leviticus 23:15-16

You shall count for yourselves seven weeks, from when the sickle is first put to the standing crop shall you begin counting seven weeks. Then you will observe the Festival of Shavu'ot for the L-RD, your G-d ~Deuteronomy 16:9-10

One of the beautiful things about working in a place where there are at least 27 religious communities, all sharing roughly the same space, is that we are aware of one another's lives of prayer. We can't pretend, as in the old joke about the Southern Baptist gone to heaven, that we are the only ones here, the only ones with a connection to God.

This morning as I entered my office I passed members of the Jewish community at prayer, and was reminded, of course, it's Passover. And today (or, rather, tonight) marks the day when Jews begin to count the omer, the days between Pesach and Shavuot (the celebration of God giving the Law).

A blessed Pesach to all.

Photo courtesy of Flickr and HayleyHyatt.