Sue's Musings

In a Speaking of Faith interview in December, 2007, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen tells the story of creation from the Jewish mystical tradition.

In the beginning there was only the holy darkness, the “en sof,” the source of life, and in the course of history, at a moment in time, this world emerged from the heart of the holy darkness as a great ray of light. Then, in the course of time, there was an accident, and the vessels containing the light of the world and the wholeness of the world broke, and the light and wholeness of the world was scattered into an infinite number of fragments of life, and they fell into all events and all people, where the remain deeply hidden until this day. According to her grandfather, the creation of the human race was a response to this accident, for we are born with the capacity to find this holy light in all events and all people, to lift it up and make it visible once again, and thereby to restore the innate wholeness of the world. The human task is the restoration of the world. It is about the healing the world.

In the book of Genesis we are told that we are made in the image of God, and as such, the holiness, and goodness, and beauty of God is inherent in all of us, but it is often hidden by the circumstance of our lives and the world in which we live. But it is there, for those who will take the time to look and celebrate that goodness – in ourselves, in our pets, in all those lives cross our path.

• Take a moment to breathe, to still your mind and set aside the worries and cares and stresses of the day. As they come to mind, acknowledge them, and then set them aside, knowing that what is important will still be there when you come back to them later.

• Where have you seen goodness today, or hints of something holy?

• What makes it hard to see the goodness in others?

• What makes it hard to see the goodness in yourself?

• Ask for new eyes to see the goodness in those around you and in yourself.

• Take a moment and give thanks for the signs and hints of goodness you did see today.