On the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, Jews are told that God's write their fate in the Book of Life and on Yom Kippur that fate is sealed. Yet, the holiday liturgy also says that acts of repentance, prayer and charity can alter God's decree. This statement leaves one wondering how much influence we have on our one lives. If we can do things that seem to "change the Divine Mind," as it were, can we impact our lives in general? How much of our lives is left to free choice and how much to destiny? Are we cocreators of our lives or does God make all the decisions?

I believe we cocreate our lives with God. I believe that we are given free choice and free will, and by combining our thoughts, feelings and actions we write the pages of our Book of Life each day -- with a little help from the Divine Hand. Whether you are Jewish or not, the Days of Awe, also know as the High Holy Days, are a wonderful time to take do some personal visioning and write in your Book of Life.

Try this brief meditation to inscribe yourself for another day, week or year of glorious life. Imagine a beautiful book, a quill pen and a jar of ink lying on a table before you. You open the book and find that it contains the story of your life up to this very moment. You turn the page and discover that tomorrow's entry and the next and the next are empty. The pages are a beautiful while, waiting for someone to write down the details of what you will do next, what will happen next... You pick up the quill, dip it in the ink and begin to write. Imagine not only the next moment, hour, day, but the next week, month and year. Write it down in the Book of Life as if it is already happening. As you inscribe each word, feel as if you are experiencing all that you are writing -- as if each event you are describing is happening to you at this moment. As you finish your entry or entries, you see a piece of paper lying ready for you to blot the ink and seal it. As you do so, you get the strong sensation of all that you have written already having happened -- as if it was written in the past rather than the future tense -- and you feel great joy flood your being. You gently close the book and notice that it has a lock on it's side. You push the lock closed, sealing the book closed. End your meditation by saying, "May it be God's will."

If you like to do rituals, here's one that allows you to write your destiny in y our own Book of Life every day: Purchase a blank journal and dedicate it to writing visions of each day. Each evening or each morning, light a candle and some incense and state your intention to "write your life in your book of life." Then spend 10 or 15 minutes writing down exactly how you want your day to unfold. When you are done, write at the bottom of the page, "This or something better is now coming to me for the highest good of all concerned. So be it, so it is, and may it be God's will."