Tag: miracles

Parashah Shelach Lecha (send for yourself) Numbers 13-15

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The children of Israel have been in the desert for more than 2 years, and they are now just outside the Promised Land. Moses is set to enter and take possession, but the people suggest he send spies to reconnoiter the land before they go in. Moses agrees and 12 leading men, one from each tribe, are chosen. They stay in the land for 40 days, then return with a report about how wonderful the land is. However, they then say they saw the Nephalim (a race of giants) and the people living there are fierce with well protected cities, so their report turns to a sorrowful cry of certain defeat. Only Caleb (from Judah) and Joshua (from Ephraim) are ready and willing to attack.

God hears this rebellion and is ready to strike them all down. He says He will make a nation from Moses’s seed (this isn’t the first time this was His desire) but Moses intercedes (again) and God relents destroying them (although He does kill the 10 spies that spread the bad report by a plague.) However, their sin doesn’t go unpunished. God tells them that since they cried their children would be taken as slaves and they would rather die in the desert, God says they will, indeed, die in the desert. They will be wandering for 40 years (one year in the desert for each day they spent in the land), and their children who they said would be slaves will be conquerors. Hearing this dismal decree, the people follow one bad idea with a worse one: they decide to attack, even though Moses says God will not be with them- God has decided this generation will not enter the land,  and true to form, they reject His word (again) and attack. But they are attacking without Moses, Aaron, the Ark, and most importantly, without God, so they get their tuchas’ beaten. Beaten so badly, in fact, that it takes an entire generation to build up enough men of fighting age to be able to attack their enemies.

The last chapter seems out of place, as God is telling Moses what the people should do once they are in the land, but it is not really out of place when you consider that despite the judgment against them, God reminds them that they will be entering the land; not this generation but the next one, and when they do they need to honor and thank God with the sacrifices He is telling them about now. It is an instruction that confirms God’s promise that Israel will, eventually, be in the land.

This parashah is an easy one for me to talk about. The lesson is abundantly clear: what God says to do, we should do, and what God says not to do, we shouldn’t do.

There is, of course, a lot more in here for us to learn about: God’s forgiveness in the midst of His terrible anger, God’s promises will be fulfilled despite what we want, how Moses is humble and his love for his people is overwhelming, even turning the heart of God to forgiveness from His righteous anger. All of this is important stuff, and good fodder for a sermon. But not today.

God has His plans, we have Free Will so we can choose to obey or disobey Him. When we obey what He has planned for us, miracles happen. When we choose to disobey Him, we royally screw ourselves up. And why do we do that? I mean, why do we turn from God? In the bible we see that during the past two years He’d shown the Israelites that He could provide food from heaven, water from rocks, He protected them from their enemies and kept them healthy and secure in one of the the worst climates in the world! Yet, still, they didn’t trust that He could help them overcome their enemies in the land He promised to give them. Oy!  And don’t we do the same thing, today?

We need to realize that we are in control of ourselves, but God is in control of everything, so He is the one to trust. We get used to good things, we get enured to miracles, we get puffed-up in ourselves and ungrateful if something wonderful is done for us more than once or twice. Basically, we learn to expect goodness and, as the old saying goes, “Familiarity breeds contempt.”

That’s why, in Numbers 14:11, God says to Moses:

And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?

God asks why the people despise Him- He was feeling unwanted, hated and treated with contempt. And you know what? He was right. That’s exactly how they treated Him.

The question you might be asking now is how could they have done that? How could they be that way?

But that is the wrong question to be asking: the question we all should be asking is, “How many times have I done this?”

Yes…how many times have I, you, we treated God with contempt? Don’t we treat Him contemptuously when we refuse to do as He says? Don’t we show contempt for God when we show contempt for His commandments? And worse than individuals doing this, how many religions do this as dogma? How many Christian churches have taught the Old Covenant is not for them? How many times have you heard someone say the Torah was completed in Jesus so it is no longer valid because we are now under the Blood of Christ? If that was true, if Jesus really did overrule His Father’s commandments with His death, then that means Jesus also showed contempt for His own Father, and preached repealing the commandments of God!

That doesn’t sound very “Christ-like”, does it?

We need to remind ourselves, every minute of every day, how wonderful God’s treatment of us is, how many blessings He pours down on us (most, if not all, we don’t deserve) and how miraculous events occur every day. When we fail to do this, we fail to be as thankful as we should be, and that leads, inexorably, to showing contempt for God.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want God to think, even for a nano-second, that I don’t appreciate everything He has done, is doing and has planned for me.

Many people I’ve met have been taught that because Jesus died for their sins they are going to heaven, so they live their life without regard for Torah, for the bible, or for anyone else. They have been taught they are “saved” because Jesus “accomplished it all on the Cross.” And they never spend even one minute of their time getting to know God or Jesus on their own. So, by choosing to believe what they have been told as Prima Facie fact, they are demonstrating contempt for God because they have rejected His commandments, and that rejection means the blood of Messiah, which was shed for them, is being trampled into the dirt.

Here’s the tough question you need to ask yourself: am I doing this, too?

Parashah Ha’azinu (Give ear) Deuteronomy 32

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As we come to the final chapters of the Torah, we find Moses finishing his service to the nation of Israel (and to God) with a song,  just as he did after crossing the Red Sea, when he was just starting.

This “Song of Moses” is both a stern chastisement and a promise of hope for the future. He recounts how God has been faithful, loving and generous, forgiving over and over the sins of the child who was given everything and has shown only rebelliousness and rejection. Moses tells of the way God has taken care of Israel, and all Israel has done, in return, is reject and rebel.  Moses further tells them what will happen in the future, how their rebellion will be punished, but ends with the hope of salvation and, eventually, the promise that God’s loving presence will return once the nation returns to God.

There’s an old song called, “We Always Hurt the Ones We Love.” I often think how many times, over the millennia, have we hurt God. When I say “we”, I don’t mean Believers, or Jews, I mean “we”- i.e., everyone. Believers, non-Believers, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, New Wavers, Skin-heads, whatever and whomever; in other words, people. Just plain people, no matter what their spiritual beliefs.

All people are God’s children, and we all hurt Him when we reject Him. Really, no one likes being hated or rejected; no one likes having those they love turn their faces away as they approach. No one likes being told, “You have no place here!”; and when you think about it, that is exactly what this nation, America, has told God. We have told Him that He has no place in our schools, no place in our courts, and no place in our work areas.

If we, as simple human beings with limited capacity to love, don’t like these things, can you imagine how much it must hurt the Lord when He is the object of derision?

To be even more direct, when it comes to rejection of God and hurting Him by not obeying His laws and commandments, which He gave us so that we will live and be happy, I should be saying how I have hurt Him. Yes, we have, but I have, too. I have disobeyed, I have done wrong in His eyes, I have rejected Him, and I can’t feign ignorance because I do know better!

Through 40 years in the desert, the children of Israel had God with them always; a cloud by day and fire by night, feeding them, watching over them, yet all the time they kept ignoring Him. They took advantage of Him, they grew (as Moses says in his song) fat and kicking (to represent an over-fed ox that won’t take the yoke) and yet God still remained with them and took care of them.

I can understand how God must have felt because I have two children (from a previous life) that I visited when they were growing up and living with their mother. I drove from Philadelphia to Queens, NY every weekend at first,when they were just 6 and 1. Then, as they got older (and I got older, too) I went every other week, then eventually my daughter rejected me and, finally, after child support was over and my son was in college, he rejected me, too. This was, of course, partially my fault, but in honesty it was mostly their mother’s hatefulness that she force-fed them their whole lives, addicting them to ADHD drugs  (they were never diagnosed by a medical professional) and filling them up with half-truths and complete lies, using them as weapons to get back at me for leaving the marriage.

Despite the cruel, disrespectful and hateful things they constantly did and said to me, I still kept going back for more. Why? Because  I’m some sort of saint? No way. Because it made me feel good to be yelled at and insulted? I don’t think so. Maybe because there was a monetary reward for it? C’mon! I used to drive an extra hour or two just to avoid tolls when I first started seeing them, and when I did have some money I spent it on movies, or archery, or breakfast, or anything to get them out of the house (the mother never took them anywhere); we went to the City (New York City, of course) and visited museums, we went to parks, we went to events, etc., all of which cost money.

Never, ever did I get so much as a “Gee, thanks Dad! That was really fun!” Not even close. In fact, usually we ended up in an argument that was created long before I ever got there- they were primed and ready for me before I even picked them up.

So, nu? Why did I keep going back? I kept going back because they are my children and I love them. Even now, all I want is to be reconciled with them.

I am not telling you this for any pity or remorse- please, that is not the point. I have God, what else could I possibly need to give peacefulness to my soul? And I have forgiven them, mother and children, because that is what we are expected to do.

No, the point is that I can understand how God feels. Anyone, any of you reading this, who have ever loved and not had that love returned, knows (at least) a little bit how God feels when His loving kindness and compassion is returned with rejection.

And when we try to tell God how He is supposed to feel, such as people who say, “Oh, that’s OK because God will forgive me” or “It isn’t that important- God didn’t really mean that”  or even worse, “I don’t really believe in God: it’s all just a made-up story”, I can only imagine how much God wants to just shake them up a little; maybe throw some lightening, drop a fireball or two, possibly split the earth under their feet. You know, just a little wake-up call to let them know, “Hey- I am here, and I AM!”

But that’s not His style, and I can say that because He has shown us His ways throughout the Tanach. Yes, He has thrown fire now and then, and He has shown His majesty and power through miraculous events, but overall He has let others, humans, perform the work in order to have His plans come to fruition.

There are so many ways we can accept that God exists, everyday miracles we see all around us, but we refuse to accept the truth of His existence, and thereby, reject Him. That is what Moshe (Moses) is telling the Israelites in his song. And he calls heaven and earth as witnesses.

God is here; He always has been here, is here this very instant, and He will be here always. Here- just within reach, always reaching out to you, always wanting to be in communion with you, always willing to forgive you when you do T’shuvah (repent), always loving you with a love that is so complete and overwhelming that you can never fully grasp the depth of it.

That is what Moses is telling the people, and that is the hope we have, each of us, every day. God is not there- He is here! He has never left, and He will always be close enough to touch.

All we have to do is reach out.

Parashah Va-Arya (And He spoke) Exodus 6:2 – 9

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Moses had just asked God why He didn’t free the Israelites as He said He would, and God answers that He will. He tells Moses that He is God, He will do what He said he will do, and He lays out the plan for redemption from slavery: God tells Moses what He will do, Moses tells Aaron to tell Pharaoh, and Pharaoh will ignore them.

The plagues come: the river turns to blood, then frogs, next gnats (at this plague the magicians cannot duplicate God’s work), then flies (at this point the land of Goshen is separated and protected whereas everyone else in Egypt is under the plague), next cattle blight, boils (now it’s not just the land and the animals, but the people are afflicted, too) and the last plague in this parashah is the hail that falls as hail from the sky but burns as fire on the ground. This last plague is the worst one yet because so far only animals have died, but now anyone caught in the hail will die. In fact, Moses warns Pharaoh to make sure his people know to protect their property and themselves by staying inside.

What is wonderful about this parashah is that God lays out a plan and works it to perfection. He starts off “Even-Steven” with the magicians, who duplicate the first three miraculous works (rod to snake, Nile to blood, and frogs). I believe this was to make sure everyone was on the same page, to to speak. Then, God upped the ante by creating gnats, which the magicians could not do. Next, he raised the bar with flies that attacked everyone except His people, Israel. Not only did God prove His power to create and destroy, but He also proved His power to save and protect- He attacked the Egyptians and in the very midst of them protected His people. The bar was raised even higher when God attacked the people of Egypt with boils, so badly so that even the magicians (who represented the religion and gods of Egypt) were so stricken they couldn’t even appear in court. The hail took it to a whole new level- now not just the land and the animals were dying, but the people who were caught in the hail died, too.

Except for the Hebrews living in Goshen.

And yet, with all these wondrous miracles, Pharaoh remained unmoved by the power of God.

Many people have a similar problem, which is that they fail to recognize and stand in awe of the miracles God performs, every day. It seems that Pharaoh was looking for reasons to diminish the wonder and awesomeness of God: when the magicians duplicated God’s miracles, Pharaoh brushed Moses and Aaron aside. When the other plagues hit, each time Pharaoh confessed his wrongdoing and conceded to allow the Jews to worship if Moses would only stop the plague. But when the plague stopped, he reneged.

Perhaps one reason he didn’t take these plagues seriously was because he thought that since Moses could turn them on and off, they weren’t so much. They were controllable, they were explainable, so they weren’t really such miraculous things. Maybe?

Today we see miracles everyday, everywhere, yet we don’t acknowledge them as such. Why? Because the new religion of the day, “Science”, can explain how it happens. Human pride and human arrogance makes us believe that if we understand how something works it isn’t a miracle, or even special. Understanding of how God’s miraculous wonders (i.e., life) work lessens God in our sight, and makes us less appreciative and respectful of Him.

There is a story about when the greatest scientists in the world gathered for a meeting to discuss all the advancements in science that have been made. They are talking about how, now that we have been able to map and read the entire human genome, we will soon be able to cure all diseases and infirmities, and how with cloning we will be able to make people in the image we want. They got to the point where they told God He wasn’t needed anymore. God asked them, “Do you think you can make a human being from a lump of clay?” The scientists discussed it and replied, “Yes. We believe we can.” God says, “OK- show me!” and they go out and pick up a large lump of clay. They are about to carry it into their lab when God says, “Oh, you can’t use that- that’s my clay. You have to make your own!”

Just because we can understand how a miracle works doesn’t make it any less of a miracle. For instance, Job 36:26-29 says:

How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out. 27 “He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streamsc ; 28 the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. 29 Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion?

This verse shows that they understood water goes into the sky, is stored as clouds, then falls back to Earth. Even with this basic understanding of the process, the speaker is still in awe of the fact that it is done!  Today we really don’t understand it all that much better. We know about evaporation, water vapor, electromagnetic forces that cause lightning, the thunder is the rushing of wind back into the vacuum caused by the lightening, etc.  We understand it, we can even create it at will, but does that make it any less miraculous? We can understand it, we can re-create it, but we didn’t create it. We didn’t create any of this. Sure, we can create a lightning bolt, but that’s because we saw the original one and figured out how it can be done. But what about the One who created it first? What about the One who thought it first?

The Jews in the desert saw manna come from nowhere, they saw water come from rocks, birds come from far way and land at their feet. Their clothes didn’t wear out and their shoes survived walking in the hot, desert sands and rocks. A million or more people, not to mention many millions of animals- all fed and watered, surviving in the most desolate and unforgiving of environments anywhere in the world. And what did they do? They kvetched, over and over, about having to leave Egypt, where they seem to have forgotten how horrible their lives were.

We think that because we see something every day, or because we understand the process, the creator of those things is not so much. Yeah, you make fire fall from the sky but so can I with a plane and a napalm bomb. So what?

So this: God is the Creator and Controller of all things. What we copy, He created. What we try to understand, He originated. What we think we know how it works, He designed from scratch. What we try to manufacture with scientific tools, He made with a thought.

Don’t be a Pharaoh, be a Job. Remain totally awe-struck and appreciative of the miracles that God does, every day. Look for them- a flower opens in the morning and closes at night; the bees know how to dance and communicate better than the most accurate GPS; the surf knows just how far it can come into the land; the prey animals are born able to run within an hour and the predators take years to learn to hunt. There are miracles all around us, inside us, above and underneath us. There are miracles we have been allowed to understand and there are miracles we will never understand. Yet, they all are still miracles and the One who has created these is still totally awesome and powerful beyond any human understanding.

Don’t take God for granted.

Parashah Beshallach (After he let go) Exodus 13:17-17:16

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The sea is turned away, Pharaoh’s army is destroyed, manna comes from heaven,  rocks give forth water, and millions of quails appear from an empty sky.

Even with all this, not to mention the 10 Plagues that have just happened and 400 years of slavery are over, the people still grumble and look back to Egypt at every little stumbling block or problem.

Isn’t this what we all do? Isn’t the grass always greener somewhere other than where we are in our lives? And don’t we spend more time “killing the messenger” than dealing with the source of our problems?

Throughout the journey in the Desert we read, over and over, how the people grumbled against Moshe. “We don’t have food”, “We don’t have water”, “We don’t want you to be the only leader”, “The people in the land are too strong for us”, yadda-yadda-yadda! Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch!

And they did this despite the many miraculous events that they witnessed: and we’re not talking about reading of it in the morning paper, or watching it happen on You Tube! They were eye witnesses, they lived through these things, they walked on dry land with a wall of water on both sides. They knew all these things had happened, that God had done it, yet the first time they stub their little toe they are totally fed up and want to go back to being slaves! Oy!

Yet, we are no different today. You disagree? Maybe some of you do, so let’s think about this: when you start a new job, haven’t you noticed that when others are running around you are calm and you can handle things? You think “This isn’t such a big  deal”, right? Then a year later, you are running around just the same way while the newbie is thinking, “This isn’t such a big deal.”

How many times have you been in a situation where you seem calm and others are not, yet there are times you can’t see any hope, running around tearing your hair out by the roots,  and others are calm? Look close at your experiences and you will see that we are all the same as the young and immature Nation of Israel was in the desert- always complaining, forgetting the blessings, not trusting even in trustworthy things, all because of our petty and selfish desires for comfort and ease.

This is a lesson for us all- God is always present, God is capable, and we need to trust in Him to form our future while we let go of the past. There are two things that no one can ever do- change the past or go back to it. The past is just that- past. It is gone, and whatever was good about it is a memory, just as whatever was bad about it is also a memory. It is up to us to choose how we live: in the past, the present, or the future.

God wants us to remember the past so that we can do what is right in the present, which will secure our future. 

(Please read that again because it can change your life)

The people of Israel knew that God was with them and that He was capable of doing everything and anything that they needed. He had sent the plagues, He split the sea, He provided them manna to eat and water to drink, and when they cried out for meat He gave millions meat for a month! In the midst of the desert, no less!

True, they did have some issues: no water or food, the most powerful army in the world coming to destroy them with hundreds of chariots. OK, I will give you that these are somewhat significant, but may I remind you that these people saw the plagues, they saw the sea close behind them while still open in front of them, they saw the pillars of cloud and fire guide them and protect them. I mean, c’mon? How much more do you need to realize that there is a great power that is on your side?

We need to ask ourselves how many seas have opened before us? How many times did we receive water and food during times we were in a “desert?” And how often do we gripe and cry about things that are, in the light of God’s majesty and awesome Grace, so unimportant and childish, that we should feel ashamed?

Shaul complained about a “thorn in the side” that he had to deal with, and that God answered his prayers to remove it by saying, “My grace is sufficient for you.” God’s grace is sufficient for all of us: it was sufficient in Egypt, in was sufficient in the desert, it was sufficient during the time of the Judges, and throughout all history it has been sufficient.

Are you satisfied with the manna God provides for you, or do you want the leeks of Egypt? The people forgot that those leeks,vegetables and meat they had were given to them like farmers feed their pigs, in big pots that were shared by all. They also forgot that whatever they received in Egypt was given to slaves, not free people. They forgot that before they ate they were worked, whipped and mistreated all day, every day. There was no 9 to 5 with an hour for lunch; there was only every day, sun-up to sunset, 7 days a week, every week of the year for their entire lifetime.

Look to your life for the good and do what you can to overlook the bad, even if it seems insurmountable to you. Look instead to all that God has done for you; list it in your head. I guarantee that no matter how terrible it seems right now, no matter how thirsty you feel, how hungry, or how many chariots are coming after you, when you remember and count all of God’s blessings you have received you will realize that even during the worst times of your life, you are blessed.

Let’s not be like the people in the desert, grumbling against those that are just doing their jobs (who take orders from someone else) and always looking back at what we perceive to be better days. No matter how bad it seems right now, there’s a good chance you may find yourself looking back at this very moment and wishing you had it as good as you do now! That’s a scary thought, isn’t it?

Trust in God, look for the blessings He has given you and believe and trust that He only wants what is best for you. Trust in the Lord and you will see His majesty, His power and His compassion rain down upon you as though the very floodgates of heaven were opened over your head. Read His word (all of it) and obey His word (all of it) and He will bless you in everything you do.  Yes, you will still have tsouris in your life because that is part of life. Only the dead have no problems, so if you want a problem-less life, well…not the best alternative, is it?

Stop kvetching about everything and get on with it. Walk in faith and the seas will split for you, the rocks will give you water and the heavens will provide you sustenance.

At the Red Sea, as the Egyptian army was coming after them, God asked Moshe why he was crying out to Him, and told Moshe to tell the people to start walking. The seas hadn’t split open yet, but God said to start walking. That is what we need to do- walk in faith before we see what God is doing. Walk in faith, as God told Moshe and the people to do, and you will see the salvation of the Lord appear before you!

Parashah Va’Ayra (I appeared) Exodus 6:2 – 9:35

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We read on this Shabbat from the Torah about how God begins the wondrous works that eventually gain the freedom of His people from Egyptian bondage. During this parashah we read of the first plagues released upon Egypt, up to the sending of hail. God is showing His power, and not just His power, but His power over the Egyptian gods, even to the point of demonstrating that Pharaoh, a god to the Egyptians, is powerless against the God of the Hebrews.

What I want to talk about is not the miraculous signs and works (don’t forget the staff turning into a snake and Moses’s hand turning leprous, then being healed) but the fact that even though some of these plagues could be explained away, they are still miracles.

Science today thinks that because something can be explained, that makes it more of an event than a miracle. We can explain how the digestive system works in living things. Even a child can pretty much understand you eat it, your stomach takes the good stuff and your blood moves it all over your body, and what you don’t need you get rid of at the other end. The more we learn about the science of digestion, the more intricate and detailed the explanation can become. But that doesn’t change the essence of the whole thing- it’s a miracle! Think about it: you eat something and you get nutrition from it. It saves your life, or, if it’s the wrong thing to eat it can kill you. Eating a lot of chocolate can make a human feel better, but eating a lot of chocolate can kill a dog. Isn’t that wondrous? Isn’t that just, like, so weird? One man’s food is another man’s poison.

The Nile turned to blood. There were frogs, lice, flies and disease all over the land, on both cattle and people. It’s all explainable, right? What if some mold or natural pollution up river (which would be south of Egypt, since the Nile flows the wrong way) caused the water to become reddish? There is a mold here in Florida that is causing the river fish to die because it is literally choking them to death, taking the oxygen from the water. What if this happened then? If the river was not supporting life, wouldn’t the life in the river come out onto the land? There is a fungus killing off frogs all over the world today. It’s called Chytrid, and to date has killed off nearly 1/3 of all frogs in the world. We don’t know what causes it, we can clean a frog infected with it, but then the frog can catch it, again. What if there was a mold in the river that discolored it, then that mold also got on the frogs and started killing them off? Wouldn’t the flies and lice come to lay their eggs in the rotting flesh of the dead frogs? These bugs carry diseases that the cattle would catch, and the Egyptians would also get sick. Lice and flies can cause rashes and without the modern medications the rashes could develop into infected sores.

All of this is science, it is explainable. So does that mean there is no God behind it? Just because I can understand the mechanics of a miracle, does that make it less of a miracle?

Here’s a cute story:

One day a bunch of scientists were talking about how they now understand diseases and how they work, and eventually will be able to cure them all. In fact, they will be able to prevent them, and maybe even genetically destroy them altogether. They even told God He wasn’t needed since we now understand all about how the world and humans work. God said to them, “Can you make a man from a handful of clay?” The scientists talked about it amongst themselves, then said, “Yes, we believe that we can.” God said, “Go ahead- show me.” So the scientists went out into the garden and grabbed a big handful of clay. That’s when God said, “Oh, no! That’s my clay- you have to make your own.”

We are such an egocentric people. We think that mankind is the ultimate life form in the Universe. May I remind us all that God is alive, too, and we aren’t better than Him! We think that because we understand something God has designed we are as wise and capable as God.  Not true. Not even close! The apple wasn’t that powerful.

In your life, do you see the miracles that occur everyday? Do you even look? We need to understand and accept that what God allows us to understand about His ways is for our benefit. It is to remind us of His wonderful love and affection for us. It is also to remind us of who is in charge. I love to watch a thunderstorm (from inside, of course): the strength of the wind and rain, the frightening sound of the thunder, and the awesome power of lightening. It reminds me of God’s ultimate power, strength, and creative abilities. I feel only pity for anyone who no longer can see these wonders for what they are, but only observes them and thinks how the clashing of different fronts causes the water droplets in the air to coalesce and fall. The temperature differences cause the winds to move at accelerated speed, and the free electrons in the atmosphere gather together and are attracted to the positively charged ground, causing the discharge of their combined kinetic energy. I may not be exactly correct in this description of a storm, but it doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? Not too wondrous; not even worth listening to, actually.

Miracles happen every day, all around us. The opening and closing of a flower, a bee flying to and fro, grass growing, even someone dying. Why do we die? If you’re hit by a bus, well, that’s an easy enough explanation. But what about just dying? Alive one minute, then the next minute you “give up the ghost.” If the heart, lungs, blood flow, etc. are all working, why does it just stop? Why did people live hundreds of years at a time when we didn’t even have band aids or Bactine, yet in the modern world, with all our medical knowledge and ability, we can’t get much past our eighties?

If you think about how unbelievably idiotic we are, as a species, it’s a miracle we are still alive, at all! We destroy our environment, we destroy ourselves, we drink the wrong stuff, we smoke the wrong stuff, we eat all the wrong stuff (and too much of it, too.) We even have TV shows that demonstrate just how absolutely self-destructive we are (they call it reality TV, and they are right. That’s what it is!) If anyone ever tells me they doubt the existence of God, I ask them how, given all that we do to ourselves and our world, could we have ever survived this long if there wasn’t a gracious, loving, compassionate and all-powerful God keeping us alive?

Make your day, your week, heck- your whole life- more interesting; enjoy that wonderful, childlike fascination with the world simply by looking for the miracles. Forget the reasons why. Who cares why? Just enjoy what God does for us, everyday. That’s the lesson in Kohelet (Ecclesiastes)- live, eat, and enjoy what God has provided. Just forget about trying to understand or explain it because that’s all just “chasing the wind.”

Here’s the message I have for you from today’s parashah: look for the miracles, appreciate them, and enjoy God.

God Majors in the Minors

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One of the wonderful things about God is how much He gets done with so little.

I remember a little poster that used to be displayed in one of my jobs:

We, the unwilling, led by those, the unknowing, have done so much with so little for so long that now we can do anything with nothing.

God isn’t great just because He can part the seas, or bring famine, create floods, turn the rivers to blood, etc. These are tremendous works. In my mind, though, what really makes God stand out as powerful is what He can do with almost nothing.

God took a young boy, and with nothing more than a rock and sling, helped him kill a giant; a professional warrior that was more powerful than any of the other warriors of his day.

God took a young man (Gideon) with only 300 farmers, and they routed and destroyed an entire professional army of thousands.

With God’s Spirit, Elijah and Elisha performed miracles, bringing the dead to life, calling fire from heaven (OK- that is a big one), and making poisoned water palatable.

And through women who had been barren, God provided Patriarchs, Judges, and Prophets.

Search out your own life experiences and look for where God has done something tremendous with something very small. In my life He has awakened me to His word though little hints and observations that I know, absolutely, I would never have seen without His Ruach (Spirit) leading me. He has helped me by sending people to guide me, He has protected me when I drive, when I ride my bike, and even as I walk. He has provided for me, financially, physically, and even emotionally (Donna is the true love of my life and if my life hadn’t been directed to her, well…I don’t even want to thInk about it.)

If I do something right, it is because of the Holy Spirit within me; when I royally screw something up, then I can take full credit.

God is unbelievably awesome, powerful and can never be understood by humans. Yet, He works with us in so many small, humble and simple ways. In Mattitayu we are told that the Father knows every sparrow that falls; since we are worth much more than a sparrow to God, can you even imagine how much more intimately He know us and what our lives are like? And He knows not just what we need, but when to give it to us.

Don’t look for the big miracle because it’s the not the rule. If you want to really know God better, look to the small things. Look for the everyday, simple ways in which God takes care of you and shows His love and concern for your well-being.

They say good things come in small packages; with God, there are many small things He does, every day, that show how great He is.

Seek, and you shall find.