Finding Spirituality

As I was driving down a busy road I passed by a church that had something written on its sign in small print and then in big print it said SONRISE.  A few miles down from there, on the opposite side of the road, I saw a Muslim place of worship and it had a banner out front announcing their monthly fast.  Twenty minutes more of driving and I ended up in a Jewish community, which is where I was headed, and it was bustling with people getting ready for Shabbat.  The cashier said the lines are always long on Friday afternoons. 

This all got me to thinking of how people are looking for something beyond the reach of their hands.  Our physical being is not all we are made of.  If this were true we would not be remembered the way we are once we are gone.  Why?  We have feelings, emotions, we interact, we contribute, we are part of each other-all of this is a part of our spiritual selves-this is the part that means something.  Our physical body carries out who we are, its important but, dare I say not as important as the unseen?  We need our bodies no doubt, but its not who we are.  Why else do people who have everything they need still feel empty?  Because they don't have everything they need, in reality they could have nothing.
 
When a favorite dress is outgrown, or a piece of china breaks we become upset but do we bury it, have services and visit it 20 years later?  No, but why not?  We put so much time into acquiring these things.  Because in reality they don't matter.  Even people who don't go to a place of worship or have much spiritual emphasis in their lives, still show they need what the physical world can't provide.  Love, courage, respect, integrity.  None of these are physical, so what category do they fall into?  Morality?  Where does morality come from?  It can't be seen.  However, even this will turn out not to be enough.  Why?  Because we are not getting to the source.  The worst criminal can have some moral convictions.  What is the source of our being, of who we really are?  What do we stand for?  Why?  Its G0d.  Hashem, Adonai.  The creator of all.  He is our ultimate goal. 

What is important is what is not seen.  We have the written words of the Torah which are very, very important but what is not seen is what was not written down initially, the hows and whys of the Torah-the carrying out of this holy book. 

There is  a love that comes from G0d that does surpass all understanding, it warms like nothing else and it is so intense that we have to pass it on.  When we are told to be a light to the world, it is not just the brightness of the light, but the warmth of the light.  When you stand next to something hot you get hot.  When a pot sits on a stove or in an oven full of delicious food ready to be cooked it is lacking something-heat that comes from light.   Only then will it be delicious.  My Nana, of blessed memory, used to call my kids delicious.  Are we delicious to the world?  Have we lost our sense, our purpose, what is important? 

When people are with us do they sense coldness or heat?  Everyone is looking for G0d, they may not call Him G0d, but we all need Him, we lack without Him.   We are his partner.  If we truly search for G0d He will show us what He wants from us, how to act, raise our kids, be a good spouse, neighbor, etc...isn't this what its all about?

Shabbat Shalom!