Are you familiar with the poem, "Footprints in the Sand"? If not, you can read it here. It's a beautiful poem about feeling the Presence of God in our lives and how it can support us, or even carry us, through hard times. I wanted to start the series with that poem, because my first installment in the Elul series on Relationships begins with God.
Many of our commandments are considering to be "Bein Adam La-makom" - "Between the individual person and God." Keeping Kosher and observing Shabbat are among these mitzvot. But many of us have a difficult time with our relationship to God. It's not quite as simple as observing the commandments and feeling God's closeness in our lives. We may have lost relatives, experienced tragedies, or even just contemplated the Holocaust, anti-Semitism throughout the ages, hunger, poverty, or violence in the world. How do we reconcile these things? How do we connect with God despite the persistence of such atrocities?
The secret, to me, is in the poem about walking with God. Human beings are blessed, and cursed, to have free will, which allows us to choose to live decent, honorable lives and take care of one another... or be selfish, violent, and destructive. God does not interfere, because it would jeopardize the framework of free will.
The High Holidays are not just an opportunity to sit in synagogue and beat our chest (fun as that may be...). They are a chance to recharge our own batteries for the challenges of the year to come. One of the ways we do that is to restart (or perhaps start for the first time) our personal dialogues with God. And I say "dialogue," because opening ourselves up to a conversation where we hear and feel heard is essential.The prayers we read in services are only meant to be a jumping-off point, inspiration to get your own exchange with God started. How do you relate to God? What is preventing you from starting this little chat? Fear? Skepticism? When I was a chaplain intern in New York, I heard several people in hospital beds say that "God can never forgive me for what I've done." People imagine that God is judging them or keeping them at bay, when in reality the lines of communication are always open. God has forgiven you, can you forgive yourself?
There are lots of distractions surrounding us at the High Holiday services. Friends and family members, long services, fasting, someone sleeping in the pew behind you, and gossiping neighbors all around. You don't need to stay focused throughout the services. Feel free to drift off, chat with a friend you haven't seen in ages, or maybe you're the guy sleeping distracting someone else! But at some point this High Holiday season, try to participate in your own conversation with God. Talk about what's happened in your life, what you hope for in the 
future, or what you're worried about right now. Sometimes life moves so fast that it feels like we're running through the sand, not walking. Maybe even sprinting! Just know that whatever speed you're moving at, someone is keeping pace right beside you.Shabbat Shalom!
