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The Invitation
So I went. Well, maybe I didn't have a choice. Somehow the Day itself was what transported me. No meal service, I might add. ... "What palace? Give me a break. I don't see a palace. Nor a King. It is just dark. I see NOTHING! " Out of nowhere in particular I heard a voice. You are indeed in the Palace. But there is a problem. Your eyes are closed. "Oh... yes, well I guess I could open them." Opening my eyes. That was something left up to me. A willingness to see. A willingness, at least, to participate in this "grand coronation" to which I'd been invited. I opened them. AND... "Umm... that didn't help much. My eyes are open and I still don't see any palace. What gives!?" Out of nowhere in particular I heard the voice again. "Even with open eyes one cannot see in the dark. Turn on the lights" "How?" "Learn, " the voice responded. Your mind is a vessel for the divine light. Torah and the words of the Sages are the tools by which you will enable it to shine. " So I resolved to learn from that moment. If it was light that I needed, so be it. Maybe even the resolution was enough. The place I stood seemed to brighten. Still I saw nothing. No palace. No coronation. This time, I think, I was actually looking forward to hearing that voice again. It didn't fail me. "You are unable to see the Palace and the Coronation because you are standing in a corner. All you can see right now is the material world which surrounds you. " The voice was right, I guess. I was actually rather fond of the walls I was staring at. My mind wandered -- "Maybe I can write on the wall ' I WAS HERE!' -- and put a TV there and a vending machine .... " There was a tap on my shoulder. "The Coronation." "Huh? .... oh yes. Well, like I said. I don't see it. But these walls have a lot of potential." Something pulled me back. Maybe it was the sound of others approaching a still unseen King. But where... how? The voice again... "Teshuvah. You must turn around. Staring at walls, you will not see the Palace, the Coronation or the King. To see these you must change your direction. " I turned. And I must have just stood in awe. I don't know how long. Time didn't seem to matter. All along I had been in the Palace. Here before me was the King. And I was to participate in the coronation. I felt very small and afraid in the Presence of the Divine King. I beseeched Him to forgive my failures misguided affections. At that moment all I wanted was to come close to Him. There were no words now. I approached. A palace. A Coronation. A King. The Shofar sounded. G-d is King. G-d was King. G-d will be King forever.
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