On Yom Kippur, congregants are encouraged to dress in white. We are supposed to be taking on the characteristics of angels. The past 10 days represent the opening of the book of life and closing on Yom Kippur.   Who will live during the next twelve months? Maybe if we act angelic it will guarantee another year of life.  I never followed this mandate until this High Holiday. The white shirt and pants were easy but my sneakers barely looked alive. So, I splurged and bought sneaker white polish. As I squeezed the liquid onto my gym shoes, it slid right off the scuff marks. I repeated the process with no perceptible difference—maybe no one would notice my dirty Kirkland sneakers. One last accessory was a white belt—which I didn’t own. So I skipped that. The pants felt snug which is amazing considering my weight loss. I liked the idea of being angelic. When I got to services Friday night for Kol Nidre, I noticed that my pants started slipping off my hips. I tried to pull them up but they refused to listen to me. Uh oh! And during services there are so many times we get up, pray and then sit down. I was constantly grabbing the belt loops. It didn’t make for a very spiritual evening of prayers. And I did want to show gratitude for surviving cancer.   Oh well-I did my best.