Rabbi's Musings

One night a burglar broke into a house. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables, and when he picked up a computer to place in his sack, a strange, disembodied voice echoed from the dark, saying, “God is watching you.” He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off and froze. When he heard nothing more, after a bit he shook his head, promised himself a vacation after the next big score, then clicked the light back on and began searching for more valuables. Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard, “God is watching you.” Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot. “Did you say that?” he hissed at the parrot.
“Yep,” the parrot confessed, then squawked, “I am just trying to warn you.”
The burglar relaxed. “Warn me, huh? Who the heck are you?”
”Moses,” replied the bird.
”Moses?” the burglar laughed. “What kind of stupid people would name a parrot Moses?”
The bird promptly answered, “Probably the same kind of people that would name a Rottweiler God ...."

As this story reminds us, most religions – including Judaism – teach that God is always watching us. In modern times, God's constant attention is a subject of debate. This may be the wrong issue, however. What may be more important for us is not the question regarding what God sees but rather: what do we see? In other words, how do we view the world? What do our eyes show us, when we greet the day? What is our perspective, our attitude?

For the last few years, a song has been sung in our morning worship:

Open up our eyes, teach us how to live,
Fill our hearts with joy and all the love You have to give.
Gather us in peace as you lead us to Your Name,
And we will know that You are One.

I have been intrigued by the first line: Open up our eyes, teach us how to live.  How does God teach us how to live?  The answer: By opening up our eyes.  So much of our Jewish wisdom can be simplified into this one command: Open up our eyes.                
                 
The song pleads to God to open up our eyes.
The problem is not that we are blind.
The problem is that many of us cannot see what is in front of us.
There are wellsprings of life around us and we just do not see them.

In this season of thanksgiving we would do well to keep our eyes open.