Taking full notice of what we see
and how we react to it undergirds the whole Torah. God wants us to look, really look, at His
work. From the “Beginning” where God
commands all of life to emerge from the dormant earth to the mitzvot of
protecting one another, God’s ultimate concern is our interrelationship with
the world.
Torah begs us to be engaged in all
facets of life. The pathway to
engagement is to see grass, observe birds, listen to the cicadas, and
participate in other people’s joys and oys.
That is why the Talmud tells us we
must say one hundred blessings each day.
We bless new clothes, our ability to see, walk, relieve ourselves, eat, experience
holy time, and see the mysteries of nature.
One cannot do these things with eyes closed. When we bless our world we become part of
it. We witness creation.
We are supposed to notice
beauty. Who knows? Perhaps God will one day ask if we took the
time to notice the variegated stripes on a mosquito’s leg. “It is quite ornate. I spent a lot of time designing it,” He might
say to us. Such a small miracle is
remarkable.
Shug Avery, one of the characters
in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple said,
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere
and don’t notice it.”
The universe is a harmonious,
seamless place, where the only potential renegade variable is us. Yet, with Torah as a guide we can at once
work with God’s world and feel content instead of wondering what to do
next. The way we see matters. Here is
an illustration:
A man walked over to gaze at a
construction site where workers were busily cementing bricks. He asked a bricklayer, “What are you doing?”
The bricklayer answered that he was
making twelve dollars an hour to do his work.
The observer asked a second man the
same question. He responded, “I have to
support my family, and must earn enough for their needs.”
The third man said, “I am building
school for children.”
Being a part of the universe that
is fully alive, pulsating with energy is to uncover a great source of personal
strength. To see the world as dynamic,
alive, flowing with possibility is to access and harness our potential.
Each prayer we utter changes the
object of the prayer as well as us. Everything
we say is of consequence. The opposite
is also true: There are no secrets in the universe. Nothing is done that does not have a ripple
effect. Everything matters. That is why it is so important to pay
attention.
Judaism’s insistence that we daven,
say one hundred blessings each day, observe the 613 mitzvot, conspires to
create a meaningful life and better world.
A visitor to Princeton University
once remarked to Albert Einstein, “I am surprised that you work so hard.” Einstein replied, “I am surprised to hear you
say that. I never work. Everything that I do is pleasure and
enjoyment.”
With such a regard for where our
feet travel, what our mouth says, what our eyes see, and what our hands do, we
become fully alive acting in consonance with the Lord, God.
As the year draws to a close
consider bringing God and self into closer alignment.
° Try saying a few more blessings
each day (plenty are in the back of the siddur (prayer book) or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_prayers_and_blessings.
° Put a tzedaka box on the counter
and make putting something in a daily practice.
° Come to shul.
° Make it a point to do someone a
favor once each day.
° Bless your food before eating
° Keep far from people and places
that are bad for you.
Embrace life.
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