So every year at Neilah, I declare war on God. I turn the full force of our spiritual armamentarium on God and I say, Give us one more year or else. Give us one more year of life, one more year of sun and rain and wind, one more year to labor and to love on this roiling green-and-blue ball. Give me one more year to love my wife, one more year to watch my children grow. Promise me this or else. Promise me this while there is still a small, charged opening between heaven and earth. Give me one more year of life. Promise me this before the gates come clanging shut.
