Everything Is a Miracle

Photo by Frances Hoefer

Dear Friends,

I am a mixed bag. All manner of feelings and thoughts tumble around within me. Some are mundane, some are exalted, some are selfish and mean, some are ridiculous. This goulash of contradictions seems to be the human condition. The Torah describes us as being formed from the clay and infused with the Divine breath - a merging of matter and spirit. The ancient Rabbis conclude that our task is to master this unwieldy mix, so that our baser instincts can be enlisted in the service of our higher aspirations. But the Rabbis are openly skeptical about our chances, and often wonder whether God, as it were, perhaps made a mistake in creating us. They conclude that, mistake or not, we are here, so we had better keep trying to heed our better angels.

It’s pretty wild witnessing the range of my inner states. Sometimes my worries overtake me. Sometimes I am enraged, sometimes despondent, preoccupied with the state of the world. Sometimes I feel giddy, sometimes exhausted, sometimes loving, sometimes loathing. Such is the circus within.

And sometimes I am graced with the state of wonder. Amazement. Awe. I think this is my favorite channel. For the past few days this awareness has been very strong within me. Everything I see - all of existence, in fact - strikes me as a miracle, plain and simple. It is inexplicable that I am here, that anything at all exists. All of it is an unearned gift that I can never repay, only enjoy and inhabit. The vegetables that grace my early summer plate - such texture and color and variety! I am utterly boggled to think that this nutrition is the product of sunshine and water and soil, nurtured by human hands. I am astonished. And not only the natural world - my car also fills me with awe. For people to figure out how to fabricate and construct this incredible machine, for me to drive around in it, is a miracle. I am blessed beyond all reason, blessed to simply be.

To see everything as a miracle does not negate or deny our struggles or our suffering. Rather, it frames my difficulties and my fears in a way that makes them more bearable. Saturated with wonder, my viewpoint grows very large, large enough perhaps to be able hold more of the world’s complexity and pain without becoming overwhelmed. Saturated with wonder, my sense of smallness in the face of universal mystery and grandeur does not daunt me; in fact I feel comforted and connected, privileged beyond measure to be alive. Saturated with wonder, I overflow, and have more to give to those around me. My cup runneth over.

Spiritual traditions aim to nurture this awareness. The daily Amidah prayer, composed some 2,000 years ago, contains a phrase upon which I always linger:

We acknowledge you, praise you, and thank you...for your miracles that greet us every day, and for your wonders and goodness that are with us every hour, morning, noon, and night.

It is a miracle that I can compose these words. It is a miracle that I am able to send them through the ether and onto your screen. Amidst the chaos of our inner and outer lives, may these words uplift and expand your awareness.

With love,

Rabbi Jonathan Kligler

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