The Bible tells us, from dust we come and to dust we shall return.

It’s a statement that carries simplicity and equilibrium.

It’s about birth and death that are supposedly on this continuum, yet we welcome one and reject the other, and what they actually share is chaos—anything but simplicity and equilibrium.

My cousin is in the process of dying. She just entered hospice, and I led a prayer circle on Zoom for her this week.

The prayer circle, as much as I tried to keep it centered, calm and focused, was incredibly chaotic.

There were tons of technological problems throughout, people coming and going, people from different walks of life, different parts of her life, and different parts of the world.

The chaos reflected the chaos we go through as we prepare to leave this beautiful earth, and the chaos on earth at this moment.

Chaos is the essence of transition—but maybe it doesn’t have to be.

Birth, we welcome with gusto, but our culture doesn’t help us at all with death. With modern science and medicine, we’ve come to believe that we should be able to live forever, and if not forever, then at least a very long time.

If we don’t, or our loved ones don’t, we feel cheated.

My cousin has been a scientist her whole life, and she loves sharing about the important work she’s done. She is proud, and for good reason.

Yet, though she has lived a long and productive life, she still mourns what she won’t get to do. In the fear and chaos of fighting her imminent death, she has bargained, denied—and refused to return.

This week’s parsha begins with Sarah’s death. Right away, there’s bargaining—between Abraham and the locals for a small piece of land at the edge of a field that has a cave. It’s a false kind of bargaining that implies that the sellers don’t really want money, yet they do, and in the end, Abraham pays good money for it. It ends up as intended from the start.

Abraham buries Sarah in the cave, and next thing we know, he’s sending his servant back to the land of Abraham’s birth to find a bride for his Isaac. She must be of his blood, but under no uncertain terms is Isaac to ever return to where Abraham came from.

Also, “Don’t worry,” Abraham says; “An angel will be leading the way for you.”

I was surprised to learn that my scientist cousin, who I thought was an atheist, didn’t scoff at the idea of angels and traditional Jewish prayer when we talked. When we prayed for her, she said she felt like she was being lifted by angels. Her fear dissipated. She felt held and secure.

In our bible story, Abraham’s servant prays, and to his surprise, finds the perfect girl, Rebecca, immediately, just as he imagined. He is so shocked that his prayers were answered that he insists on telling the family his whole story, blow by blow, before putting a morsel of food in his mouth after his long journey through the hot desert.

Rebecca’s brothers, recognizing that their sister’s match has been ordained by God, agree to let her go, but then they bargain with the servant to wait, to hang out some—because, please, just a little more time?

Though my cousin seemed finally at peace with dying, she still announced energetically to her friends on Zoom that "there was still a 20% chance of survival!”

In our story, the servant begs Rebecca’s brothers, no, please, let my mission be successful and let me move on; “The god of my master heard my prayers, and the angel who led me here has helped, so let me be on my way.”

Surprisingly, Rebecca agrees to leave right away—though it’s not a simple bus ride home to her family, and who knows what she’s getting herself into!

Rebecca carries a calm, unwavering aspect that reflects that she trusts. She has faith. She doesn’t bargain.

When my cousin felt the presence of angels, she had an aspect of Rebecca in her; I’m ready to go. I am not afraid. God is leading the way and I must follow.

I heard Katherine Hayhoe being interviewed by Krista Tippett the other day. Hayhoe is not only an atmospheric scientist who dedicates her life to reversing climate change, she is also an Evangelical Christian.

Hayhoe has no doubts about God or angels, and total faith that we still have time and that there is enough will to remedy the problem of climate change, disaster and chaos. She is bubbly and happy and is spreading the Word to climate disaster deniers who have been caught up by the political chaos. She offers solutions that people can relate to personally. She’s amazing.

Hayhoe understands that it is only politics that has created the divide we’re living in, between “Creationism” and science, between science and religion/spiritual belief—and how it serves our present political chaos.

And we have a choice not to feed and participate in the unhealthy divide our culture has created between life and death, between science and spiritual belief, all of which exist on the same continuum.

If we practice enough, I believe we can have enough faith, and with enough faith, like Hayhoe, we will have the strength to come out of the caves we may have crawled into to avoid feeling the feelings of dread and fear associated with the present chaos in our country and government and the future of the world.

With enough faith, we will have enough strength to stand our ground and not cave in to politicians who insist on creating and exacerbating the current chaos—politicians who want us to make false bargains, creating chaos in our government, that give away the health of our home the Earth in exchange for greater personal wealth.

With enough faith we will know which way is the way towards home. We will also know when it’s time to surrender.

Then we can say goodbye to the chaos we are living through now and find our equilibrium as a united earth.

And let us say Amen.