Experiencing the Divine

There is a scene in the movie ‘A Woman Called Golda’ where it is brought to Golda’s attention that some of the children in the Jewish detainee camps on Cypress have never seen a flower and she weeps for this tragedy. During a recent Kabbalat Shabbat service I knew exactly how she felt and it was all I could do not to shed a tear. It wasn’t over flowers though but something even more important - or perhaps not, depending on where and how one experiences the Divine. One of the introductory passages we read, one which I had not run across before, was about experiencing the Holy One and IIRC, how this must be worked at with the implication that most people do not naturally perceive Him/Her. I’ve experienced the long dark night of the soul before and there are times I have to strain to hear the Still, Small Voice but these days I cannot see a tree or a stone without experiencing Shechinah, the Indwelling Presence of the Holy One. That some people do not perceive the Holy One in their everyday lives hurts; one of the reasons that I choose to make tallitot, kippot and other textile items for personal worship and considered becoming a rabbi. If I, in some way, can enhance someone’s spirituality and encourage the bond between themselves and the Holy One, however they perceive Him/Her, then I will feel that I have fulfilled at least a piece of my purpose for this incarnation.