Everything in its Place

 “A person is obligated to say a blessing for the bad things just as he is responsible to say it for the good.”  Berachot 33b

Having a world view is important.   We know where we stand in a comprehensible universe.  Chaos becomes minimized and confusion reduced.  In such a mind-set everything has a place and makes sense.  There is a purpose to all things.  Nothing is extraneous.  Nothing is lost.

Of Talmudic fame, Rabbi Akiva is a prime example of someone who possessed a world view that enabled him to lead a rich life.  Akiva’s life was far from pristine.  He was an impoverished and illiterate shepherd. He had virtually no possessions, certainly nothing of real value.   Eventually, Akiva fell in love with a rich landowner’s daughter and subsequently spent many years separated from her because of his impoverishment of both money and learning.  His father-in-law had such a low opinion of him that he severed his relations with his daughter when she informed him of her love for the poor and ignorant farmer.  

Akiva’s guiding principle in life was, “Everything God does is for our good.”  Now, that does not mean that Akiva joyfully embraced the many painful and terrible things that happened to him but he understood that even bitter medicine was still medicine.  Every event in his life had kernels of growth hidden inside.  It was his task to find it and grow from it.

We hear people say, “It is God’s Will,” when bad things happen.  Such a way of thinking is akin to making the best of every situation and accepting that we can grow and learn from any experience.  Railing against reality does us no good while asking what we can learn from a situation affords great opportunity.

 

“Blessed is God day by day.  He bears our burdens.  The Lord is our salvation. Selah.” Psalm 68:17