“Now I’m motivated. I’m going to make this happen.” Those are the sweet words that kick-off the path to progress. As human beings we have aspirations to grow, to build, to make a mark. What sparks the transition from stagnation to production?
While Moses was grazing sheep he noticed a bush, burning. Amazed that the bush continued to burn without being consumed by the flames, he stopped in his tracks to investigate. “G-d saw that [Moses] turned to see and G-d called to him from the bush” (Ex. 3:4). G-d understood that the first few steps Moses took were indicative of his general approach; one who’s prepared to change his course towards progress, the crucial characteristic of an effective leader.
We aspire to produce and grow, and G-d often extends His hand, as it were, to inspire us to move forward. He’ll send messages if we’re prepared to notice them, but it’s up to us to supply one basic ingredient: the few deliberate steps towards the goal. Once we take those steps, G-d provides the strength to produce — “Create an opening for Me the size of a needle’s eye, and I’ll create an opening for you the size of a great hall’s entrance” (Michtav M’Eliyahu 4:276, ShHSh”R 5:2)
When the ball is in our court, are we going to run with it?
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Mordechai Dixler
I am 82 years old..For most of my life I was too busy to have recognized a ” message”; a fleeting thought (a guide) that came and went from my consciousness. When I began to reflect on past re-directions in the courses of my life I wondered “how did I get to where I am, from where I came from?” I had not been on any “deliberate” path to where I found myself–but here I am. A future before me, never within my contemplation. This happened to me on more than one occasion. I am a spiritual person who came to recognize, earlier in my life, that I do not need to have proof to believe the reality of something for which there is no rational explanation.
We can never move forward, or build, or grow, as long as segments of our community refuse to take steps toward creating an opening the size of the eye of a needle. A needle has only one eye. We have two. We go to a doctor to make sure we see well through both eyes. God created us as two eyes, a man and a woman. We should make sure we see well and make sure both man and woman are equal. Otherwise we will never see well. No glasses can fix the poor eyesight we refuse to fix.