Closer Than You Think

“I wish I could just make You turn around, turn around and see me cry. There's so much I need to say to You, so many reasons why - You're the only One who really knows me at all - so take a look at me now” (PC)

Are you close enough to see Him?

There are so many reasons to turn to Hashem. To speak to Hashem. So much to talk about!
"But I can't see Him!" you may say. "Who am I talking to if I can't see Him? Where is He?" 
The truth is, He is closer than you may think. However, the way it works is that the more you try to come closer to Hashem, the more you see Him everywhere. Although He can always see you, you cannot see Him unless you grow closer to Him.

One of the most intriguing, yet common visual effects is a two-way mirror. Whenever I find myself near one, I always struggle to figure out what is on my side of the mirror and what is on the other. If you've ever stood near one, you know what I'm talking about. 
When do you see more on your side and less on the other? When you're standing far away from the mirror. When standing from afar, all you see is you. You and all of your surroundings. Yet, when you're standing up close to it, you can nearly see right through it. As you lose focus on yourself and fade away, everything on the other side becomes visible. Clear.
But this is not true for those on the other side. They don't see themselves at all. Only you. As clear as day.
Hashem can see us clearly. Always. He never sees or thinks about Himself, only us. However, on the other side, the situation is not the same. If we're far away from Him, all we see is ourselves. We look at our lives and surroundings, and Hashem is nowhere to be found. So we think. Yet, if we were to draw closer to Him, we would stop merely seeing ourselves, but we would begin to see the wisdom of Hashem a bit better. If you were closer still, you would see Him crystal clear - all the time! 

Warning: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.


Say to yourself ten times today:
"Hashem, please help me grow closer to You so that I can see You always!"

Itching For It

"Watch out you might get what you're after ... some things sure can sweep me off my feet, burning down the house" (TH)

How are you going to
put out the fire?

Years ago, I read somewhere a very perplexing comment by Rebbi Nachman of Breslov. He seemingly said that the most accurate means to measure one's self-control is by not scratching your skin when you have an itch. This, he noted, is the ultimate demonstration of self-control. When I read this, I thought to myself, "Well, it certainly is difficult to restrain ourselves from scratching an itch, but is that really the greatest form of control? There must be a deeper message in his ever-clever words."
Last night, I believe I figured out the answer to my question.

Athletes foot. If you have ever had it, you know how uncomfortable it is. That incessant itching, screaming, "Scratch me - now!"
Although it doesn't happen often, I felt this urge to scratch my toes as I removed my shoes for the night. With my nails hard at work on my toes, I thought of the words of Rebbi Nachman - and then it hit me. 
When a person feels an itch, that sense of needing to scratch overtakes a person's mind. That's the only thing he can think about. Nothing else. As long as the itch is there, the thought and fixation on the need to scratch remains. Once the person gives up his battle to restrain, and begins scratching away, there is an immediate sense of pleasure and accomplishment. The itching is finally being fully attended to. Yet, a person can get carried away and scratch far more than is needed, which is quite common. When he gets the sensation that the job is done, he realizes another problem - his skin is on fire! His skin is red and burning! Only after a few moments does the burning dissipate, leaving him with either a feeling of completion - or the need to scratch once again!
The identical situation occurs regarding sin. Once a person entertains the possibility of committing a sin, that itch to fulfill his urge overpowers every other thought. If he surrenders, and completely indulges in the sin, he will certain feel an immediate sensation of enjoyment. However, this satisfaction will surely be short-lived. Certainly, if he exceeds in his temporary delight and enjoys in excess, he will soon realize the results of his actions. Ultimately, when he finishes itching, he will be left on fire! 
... until the next itch comes along ...

Rebbi Nachman - I hope I understood your words correctly!

Say to yourself ten times today:
"Hashem, please give me the self-control not to scratch when every 'itch' comes along!"

Up, Up, and Away!

"I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky ... spread my wings and fly away" (RK)

Are you ready to fly?

Many people are afraid of heights.
Why? Why wouldn't they want to grow? Want to become great? Want to fly?

The last time I traveled by plane (which was several years ago), I kept my eyes glancing out the window during takeoff. As we rose higher and higher, and the people and objects became smaller and smaller, we soon enough rose above the clouds. 
And a thought hit me.
When a person looks down from an airplane, it does not appear as if he is going too quickly. However, to those of us on the ground, when we look up to the sky, those planes move mighty fast! 
Our Gedolim don't view themselves as being any greater than anyone else. When they look at us, they don't feel that they're going any faster than the rest of us. Yet, in truth, they are flying high above us all, above the clouds. Therefore, when we look up to them, we clearly see and recognize just how much faster they are flying.
However, the beauty of our Gedolim is that they can take us along with them - as passengers upon their planes - and bringing us higher and closer to Hashem. If we truly desire that closer connection, we must know that our Gedolim can assist us. They can bring us there. And, we never know, maybe we'll end up flying ourselves!

"Some people just know how to fly."
Wanna learn?

Say to yourself ten times today:
"Hashem, please help me find the right guide in life so that I can grow closer to You!"

Mystery Bus Ride

"The wheels of the bus go 'round and 'round, all through the day"

Are you ready for the ride?

"Where going away, away - to where? I cannot say, mmm mmm! So have a nice day!"
So the little kids sing. So true.
So is life.

As the bus approaches each bus stop, people eagerly await to board. Different people, different destinations. As they board and pay their fare, there are those who sit up front while there are those who take a back seat. Throughout the ride, people continue to board while others complete their trip and descend the bus. Each person has their own unique place where they need to go.
So is the ride of life. People are forever boarding and descending - people are born and people pass away at their predesignated destination. We each pay our way and have our own seat. When a person passes away, it is indicative of the fact that he reached his destination - his ride is complete. Yet, just like a person wouldn't object to someone getting off the bus before them considering the fact that everyone has a different destination, so too in life.
We are all on the bus at different points, each for our own, unique mission.
Our own road trip.
Our own destination.

We are all on the road of life. Where are we headed?
In truth, where we're going, we don't need roads. With the Torah guiding the way, we will most certainly soar to the Heavens!

Say to yourself ten times today:
"Hashem, please guide me on the road of life - send me in the right direction!"

The #1 Fan

"I close my eyes, only for a moment and the moment's gone. All my dreams, pass before my eyes with curiosity" (K)

Chill out - He's there alright.

This very moment is now gone.
What about now? Gone, too.
Whatever we did or did not do now is now gone. There's no going back to now.
Now it's then.
Time. That is the ultimate limitation in this world.
But there is One Being that is beyond time - Hashem.
Where is Hashem?
Then. Now. Will be.
He's beyond time.
He's there alright. You can't see Him, but you can feel Him - that's what makes Him Hashem. That's what makes Him the Almighty.

Take a look at a fan, either a hand-held one or on the one hanging from the ceiling. Turn it off. Take a look at the blades. Three, four, or five pieces of plastic or wood spaced from one another.
See them? Sure you do. They're right in front of your eyes.
Do you feel the breeze from it? No. Not yet. It isn't on.
Now turn on the fan - at full blast.
Feel the breeze now? Sure you do. Ahhh. So refreshing.
But hold on. What happened to the blades? You can't see them anymore! Where are they? Did they disappear?
Well, you know that they're there - or else where is the breeze coming from! If you would be able to see them, you wouldn't feel the breeze! You're only feeling the cool breeze because it's moving so fast!

Being stuck in the here and now, we cannot see Hashem. Just as the blades of the fan constantly move and thus cannot be seen, neither can Hashem.
But He sure is there - can't you feel Him?

Say to yourself ten times today:
"Hashem, please help me see You in everything and everywhere today!"

Make Ur Wrds Gr8

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can kill me!

Be bold. Word out.

There are a mere two factors that separate humans from the animal kingdom - free choice and speech. In the past several decades, we have witnessed an unprecedented increase in phone usage. With the advent of cell phones, we have seen an enormous explosion of our speech. With the ability to reach virtually anyone at virtually any time, we have become quite comfortable calling more people, more times and speaking ... more.
Then we were given text messaging. Perhaps a means to limit our speech, for better or worse, texting comes with its own set of challenges. People text what they would oftentimes never say in person. Yet, while we have the luxury of unlimited nights and weekends on most networks, there is something unique about texting from which we can possibly learn a very valuable lesson.

A texting field is limited to 160 characters. Although we can feel free to text multiple messages one after another, we are nonetheless limited to a finite number of characters in a single text . Interestingly enough, this has impacted people in the most profound ways, most notably in the fact that the spelling accuracy of our youth (and even older) has deteriorated. People have adjusted to using shorthand to communicate their messages. Since we are limited to 160 characters, and we want to get our point across in one, single text, we alter the spelling to achieve this goal.
Lol, ttyl, and thanx just to list a few appropriate examples. Also, the communication between people becomes vague and often misunderstood, which leads to various relationship difficulties.
Although the negative outcomes appear clear, there is something so incredibly positive and important to learn from.
Our words are limited! If we were to realize that our words are finite, and that each word is accounted for, perhaps we would use them more wisely. Just as we careful calculate each and every character in a text message, our precious words should be closely scrutinized far more.

Count your words and make your words count!

Say to yourself ten times today:
"I will try and think before everything I say today!"

A REAL Mouthful

"Some days it don't come easy, some days it don't come hard ... and I'd do anything for love" (ML)

Doing a mitzvah doesn't have
to be like pulling teeth!

Pick a mitzvah. Any mitzvah. How much is it worth? What are we willing to do to fulfill it? How far will we go to make certain it was done right?
There was a time and place when people cared more. Did more. Their daily observance was infused with inspiration and deep emotion. We, too, must learn from them. We must learn to follow in our ancestors' ways in our fulfillment of the Torah and mitzvos. If we care enough, want enough, we can do the same.

A Russian Jew once struck up a conversation with his seatmate on a bus in Eretz Yisroel, and in the course of the conversation, described himself as a Yom Kippur Jew. His seatmate immediately thought that he most probably meant that he went to shul only once a year on Yom Kippur. However, the Russian Jew explained to his new friend that he was referring to something else.

He was a soldier in the Russian army following WWII. In order to avoid serving on Yom Kippur, every year he would feign illness. Each Yom Kippur, he would show up at the army doctor and moan over his "toothache," and beg to have his tooth pulled. After his tooth was pulled, he was freed from his duties for the rest of the day. The Russian Jew flashed a toothless smile to his seatmate, and said, "I was in the army for six years and I lost six teeth this way, but at least I never worked on Yom Kippur!"

Fortunately, the average person does not need to sacrifice in his service of Hashem in the manner in which this holy Jew did. Our sacrifices are less severe - yet, nevertheless, our sacrifices are in direct proportion to our ability and culture. Indeed, for us, concentrating during davening is likened to pulling teeth! That is our sacrifice!

What is your sacrifice?

Say to yourself ten times today:

"Hashem, please give me the strength to serve you with all my heart and soul!"

Hashem! Bring Your Sons Back Home!

"And we're not letting go, as we're bringing you home ... you're brother would do the very same for you!"
Let us bring our brothers home. Keep davening!



(See the official site for the lyrics - www.TheJapanSong.com)