|
|
||
HOME
|
|
AWARENESSBy Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon ""God is certainly in
this place and I didn't know it." The old Saturday Night Live comedian, "Father" Guido Sarducci, used to have a routine called "The Three Minute University". He promised that in three minutes he could teach you everything you would remember five years after you finished college. It was very simple, and he could save you a lot of money in tuition. So what would you remember of your courses five years down the road? For Economics, it was "supply and demand". Spanish was "Como esta usted? Muy bien, y tu?" And Theology was "Where is God? Everywhere!" In addition to being a lot of fun, there is a certain truth in Sarducci's sally. We all might agree that God is everywhere, but do we act in any way like it is actually true? I wonder. It's so much easier to pay lip service to that notion, while conducting our own affairs as though God were present only in the temple on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur-if then. God is everywhere, but right now I have to make a phone call, drive a carpool, close a deal, pack for a trip, invest some money, buy a dress, work out. Paying attention to the reality of God's existence, actually conducting our lives as though that awareness mattered, is simply not native to us. But it should be. Being aware of God's presence in our lives and in our world is the beginning of wisdom. It is the first step on the road to living intentionally, to making our own work have meaning and purpose and eternality. It is part and parcel of having a life that matters, which brings good to those we love and to our community. We have a lovely silver yad, a pointer for reading Torah, which has a brief inscription on it: "Achein, yesh Adonai bamakom hazeh." It is a wonderful reminder, every time we chant Torah, of why we do what we do. The text of the quote is taken from the story of Jacob, which we read this month. Jacob, our ancestor, true father of the Israelite nation, is fleeing the anger of his brother Esau, whom he has defrauded. Alone and friendless, he lies down on a rock in the wilderness and dreams a famous dream of angels ascending and descending to heaven. Awakening, he says "God is certainly in this place," the quotation on our yad. Comfort for our father at a time of great need. But that's only half the story. Jacob immediately adds the crucial words "and I did not know it!" God was here, and I missed it. Throughout his long, colorful, stressful life Jacob actually continues to miss the truth of God's constant presence. He never truly learns to live a life of faith and goodness. We can learn from his example. God was in that place, because God is in every place. Jacob did not know it; but if we can open ourselves to that truth, then we can begin to live lives that sparkle with awareness. We can live our lives on purpose and for a purpose. How do we do that? By getting in tune with our spiritual selves. By coming to temple or praying on our own, by studying Torah, by spending time with our families and actually listening. By simply paying attention at all times and in all ways. If we can begin to do that, then we will surely bring goodness into this world, simply by allowing God to emerge. And then, in this month of Thanksgiving, we will have so much for which to be grateful. From the November 1999 Temple Times |
