Listen to the moan of a dog for its master.
That whining is the
connection.
--- Jelaluddin Rumi
Like most of you, my life is hectic. And
yet, I find myself pushing off the one thing that I know would help put it all
in perspective – my spiritual practice.
For some of us, this is praying, for others it
is meditation, or yoga, or running, or mindfulness or going to synagogue, or
church, or mosque, or temple, regardless of what our spiritual practice is or
where it takes place it is something that we do that allows us to
connect.
My teacher Rev. Diane Burke often says that
spiritual practice does not guarantee moments of GRACE, or moments of
connection. Rather we are gifted with those and they come sporadically. The
more we do our spiritual practice the more we allow these precious moments to gift
us with their presence.
I know this to be true. For me stopping and
connecting changes everything– whether I find grace in that moment or not. My
life becomes a bit more spacious, and my mind stops racing. But much like a
friend who is “looking” for a job but doesn’t send out resumes or apply for
jobs yet complains that he is or she is unhappy in his or her present job – I
sometimes avoid the very thing that will facilitate the results I want.
A story is told of Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli.
Every day he would sit in his study and when he was hungry he would call out,
“God, Zusha is hungry.” Then his servant would come with a tray of food
and Rabbi Zusha would eat and thank God for the meal.
The servant grew tired. He asked himself, “Why
does the Rabbi always say – “God, Zusha is hungry? Doesn’t he realize
that I am the person that prepares it and brings it to him?
So Moshe took the day off. He showed up on the
following morning and found the remnants of a banquet on the Rabbi’s
dining room table.
He was shocked and asked around town. Who was at
the Rabbi’s house? Who brought him all this food? He learned a wealthy merchant
had come to town. He had been trying to get an audience with the Rabbi, but
after knocking on the door numerous times, the only sound he heard was the
rabbi’s chanting and studying the holy texts.
“The Rabbi must eat sometime”, the
merchant thought, and so he went out and brought all kinds of foods. He
stood outside the Rabbi’s window, and when he heard the Rabbi say, “God, Zusha
is hungry.” The merchant opened the door wheeling in all the food he had
bought. During the meal the merchant and the Rabbi spoke, and the merchant took
this time to ask for a blessing that he and his wife be blessed with children.
After hearing this Moshe returned to the Rabbi
and told him how he had left the Rabbi to fend for himself and how the merchant
showed up just in time.
“Ah…” the Rabbi said. “Of course the food comes
from God. It would be incredible if I just thought that I was hungry and the
food would appear, but we all have to do hishtadlut (exert effort) in order to
be fed, for some of us it is to go out to work, for others it is to plow the
fields or to cook, for me, Zusha of Anipoli, I need to call out
–"God, Zusha is hungry" and the food appears.”
So too it is with the spiritual practice that
feeds my soul. I want to be like Rabbi Zusha who merely calls out and is
answered by God almost immediately every time. In reality, I am more like the merchant
who has to put in little effort and exercise a little patience to get the
connection I want.
I invite you to join me, to connect deeper this
Friday night. I invite you to unplug, to chant, to pray, to stop and do something
that allows you to connect.
TEHOM el Tehom Koray (from the deep I call to
you- Psalms). Let us make time to create the space for the connection that we
yearn for.
This Friday - June 24, 2016
6:30pm
The Fair Lawn Jewish Center
10-10 Norma Ave
Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
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