The Story of Our Lives

Children love stories.

Adults too.

After all, stories are a special vehicle of learning and communication.

What is a story? A story takes a series of individual events, conflicts, twists and turns and weaves them into a symmetrical whole.

There's a guiding theme. There are lines of causality drawn between seemingly unrelated goings-on. There's a rhythm and balance.

It's a story.

Which brings us to Passover. At the Seder, our questions are answered through the Haggadah, which translates from Hebrew as "the telling"; the telling of the story.

Whether we recognize it or not, we yearn for freedomThe Haggadah weaves together historical facts to compose a narrative. It's a story of an imperfect people who suffer great challenges. These people recognize that they are never alone, because they have a G‑d who cares. With that recognition, they turn to – and place their trust in – the Divine, and ultimately achieve freedom.

In a nutshell, that's the body of the Haggadah.

It's a story of our ancestors.

And it's a story of our own. Because we're still not free.

We may not be slaves in the conventional sense, but we're controlled by impulses, appetites, temper, etc.; we're still trapped in ourselves, our habits and our patterns.

And, whether we recognize it or not, we yearn for freedom. So we have the gift of Passover.

The Exodus was just the beginning. This historically critical event is much more than an event. It's the force of Freedom in life, a Divine energy waiting to be tapped, especially on the Seder night.

But we need to unlock this energy. And a primary key is: The story.

In the story – our story – we recognize that we're on a human journey filled with many "Egypts." In the story – our story – we recognize that we live this journey for a higher purpose. In the story – our story – we recognize that there is ultimately a symmetry to the narrative of our lives, and that transcending the Egypts is the only way to our internal Promised Land.

At the Seder, we recognize that each life is a unique and precious story, and that we are co-authors of our individual narratives.

At the Seder we resolve to guide our life's script in a transcendent, liberated direction, and we trust in our Author above to give us the strength we'll need.

It's Passover. Attend a Seder. Hear your story. Visualize the coming chapters.

Now live them.