Vessels of Light and Peace

Sometimes it feels like the world is fracturing into billions of pieces. There are disasters at home and work and difficulties with those we love and care for and ourselves.  Through it all, we can rest assured that God is with us, even though we cannot understand there is a higher good at work. All that is asked of us is to love and trust the divine presence. Another person spoke out of the worshipping silence about gravity and how, to her, this is love (i.e., gravity = love/attraction).

This brought to mind the concept of tikkun olam (repair of the world), the mystical tradition that tells the story that in creating the world, God contracted and poured part of God’s Self into vessels of Light. Unable to contain such power, these vessels shattered, their myriad shards becoming sparks of light trapped within matter. Gravity is how objects with mass attract one another. It causes dispersed matter to coalesce. This gravity, this love, is our primary tool to manifest God’s presence in the world. Our job is to find and connect these sparks within ourselves and each other, using the force of love to pull together and glue all the disparate shards and thus repair the world.

In working through the inevitable interpersonal difficulties in this life, what can get us through this is Love, the force of connection that binds us to each other and to the work that moves the world in a positive way. It is the basis for the Exodus story. All the difficulties of slavery and the plagues, yet God’s love and miracles take us out of exile, bound together with a gravity of sorts as one people to be redeemed. During my walking prayers that evening, I bent down to tie my shoe, thinking about the state of things in the world. As I stood up, I said, “God have mercy,” and out of the west heading north came one of the biggest shooting stars, comet-like, I’ve seen in a long, long time. Maybe I was heard…

Here and now, with all our struggles, if we make an effort and as long as we are committed and honest (nothing can erode goodness faster than falsehood), love has enough power to move the most challenging situation with an unlimited amount left over. This is especially important for those of us who prioritize repairing the world. Love can become rekindled.  However, to truly effect a positive change, words must lead to action, whether reaching out to an estranged friend or one in trouble, helping people experiencing homelessness, visiting an older person without family, etc. In Bereishit, God created with words, yet what was created was a dynamic, action-oriented environment, and we are an essential part of that energetic system. Words alone are not sufficient to find the sparks and repair our world.

In the Talmud (Mishnah), it says that God found no vessel other than peace that was capable of containing blessing. Only by virtue of the peace and unity among them could people receive and be worthy of having the Divine Presence rest upon their handiwork. By striving for a continuous unfolding, nurturing the spark within and becoming the vessels of Light and Peace, we can effect a real tikkun olam, repair of this fractured world.

May the Divine Presence rest upon our handiwork.  March 2010 ~rch