The Torah portions we read the past two weeks, Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27) and Vayechi (Genesis 47:28-50:26), offer us a chance to look at our own lives over the past year and to consider how past events during the last 12 months have gotten us to the place we now stand. It also helps us to look forward to the New Year and to consider why why we are in our current situations and what we are meant to do with this information in the coming 12 months or longer. In these portions, Joseph forgives his brother’s for their past misdeeds and explains that he knows that everything happened with good reason and according to God’s plan- so he could help save his family and his people. The question for us today is simple: Can we see the Divine Plan in our lives? Joseph didn’t see the plan immediately either. It took him many years, and a much elevated status, to see how what happened to him actually had benefit not only to his own life but to the life of others.
We often don’t find seeing the Divine plan in our lives so easy. Hindsight more often is 20-20, meaning that we don’t see the Divine Plan until much later – often too late for us to act upon it. So, what are we to do now, in this new moment in the new secular year? We can simply look back, assess, and look at where we now stand. Then we can ask ourselves some simple questions.
What have I learned from my past experiences, and how can I put that knowledge to use?
What do I feel inspired to do?
What do I feel compelled to do?
How can I make my life better for myself and for others?
Do I see my purpose clearly, and, if so, how can I fulfill that purpose?
With the answers to these questions, we can then move forward. We can create an inspired action plan. If we want more information, we can also ask for Divine Wisdom by simply asking God:
What am I to do now?
Or, as it is written in Isaiah 6:8,
“I heard the voice of God saying, ‘Whom shall I saend and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Hineyni. Here I am. Shlakheyni. Send me.'”
In other words, say to the Divine, “Here I am in this present moment, God. I heard your call, but I’m not really sure what you want me to do. Tell me what inspired action I should take and send me forward to do your work. I will surely go.”
Make sure you are listening for the “Still Small Voice” that calls to you. Sometimes it’s not even a voice but an urging, an impulse, a desire to go, to do… to be and to become.
Be aware that you might not like what you are called to do, however. Like Moses in this week’s Torah portion, when God calls us we sometimes feel we are not cut out for the job God asks of us. Yet, it is Moses’ humility that makes him so appropriate for his job, and he succeeds at his job despite his early protests that God has chosen the “wrong” person. The same remains true of each and every one of us. Because we are simple humans, typically just like each other to a great extent, we can relate to one another and help each other. This becomes our greatest gift. By being humble but rising to the occasion and showing our wisdom and greatness – indeed, our Divinity – we are able to carry out God’s Divine Plan for ourselves and for all humanity.
So, where have you been in the last year and where are you going this year? I haven’t been to where I had hoped I’d go, but I suppose I did make some progress towards my goal; I know there must be some reason for that fact. This year I hope the lessons learned from getting where I now find myself will drive me forward to my destination. And I feel all the more strongly that that destination will be the fulfillment – or maybe just the beginning – of my Divine purpose here on earth. How about you?
