Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

“It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask,
‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim
it to us so we may obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea,
so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to
get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ No,
the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in
your heart so you may obey it.”
Deuteronomy 30:12–14


There is a story told about a little apple tree in a forest
of oak trees. Each night, the little tree looks up at the
great big oak trees and sees the magnificent stars
shining through their branches. From the vantage point
of the apple tree, it appears as though the stars are
actually hanging from the branches of the oak trees.
The apple tree is amazed and she turns to God and
asks for stars on her branches, too. “Be patient,”
God replies.

Every night the apple tree is amazed at the stars, and
every day that passes without stars of her own, she is
sure that the stars are simply beyond her reach. “Please,
God,” she begs at night. “Please give me stars, too!”
And God’s usual reply comes, “Be patient, my little one.”

One night, the little apple tree is particularly distraught.
“Will I ever get those stars? Are they within my reach?”
Just as she starts to despair and believe that the stars
are simply beyond her, God sends a great wind. The
wind carries a newly formed apple from the branches of
the little tree and it falls just beneath her. When the apple
falls, it breaks in half, and lo and behold, there is a “star”
within. The stars had been hanging from the branches of
the little apple tree all along!

The authors of this charming story took advantage of the
fact that when we slice an apple horizontally, indeed, the
image of a star can be seen. It serves as a great analogy
for what the Bible has been telling us for millennia. The
heavens are not beyond us somewhere out there beyond
our grasp. Holiness, godliness, and spirituality are all
within us already. We just need to reveal it.

When you feel unworthy, defeated, or overwhelmed,
remember that you are pure holiness at your core. Nothing
is beyond our reach; we need only to uncover the light that
already shines within.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

(excerpts from Holy Land Moments)

Never ignore someone who cares for you
because someday you'll realize you've lost
a diamond while you were busy collecting
stones.

Scripture:

“‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly
meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’ What do people
gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?”
Ecclesiastes 1:2–3


Under the sun” refers to life on earth. The unwritten law of
the physical world we live in is “he who dies with the most
toys wins.” People dedicate their lives to acquiring the
nicest homes, the fanciest cars, and the latest technological
craze. However, at the end of life these things don’t matter at
all. You can’t enjoy your toys when you’re dead, and since
that is everyone’s destiny, what’s the point of working toward
all those useless things in the first place?

Solomon teaches that nothing we can accomplish
“under the sun” has real, lasting value. However, there is also
life “above the sun.”

Above the sun exists another world, the spiritual world. That
is the only place where anything we acquire has true worth.
And the types of things we can acquire that have real, lasting
value aren’t things at all. They are our good deeds and service
to God. Only these things will be with us forever, and only these
things have meaning.

As we sit in our flimsy huts with their insubstantial roofs, we
realize how fleeting and vulnerable anything we build in this world
truly is. Our vision isn’t clouded by a sturdy, secure roof which
blocks our view of the great expanse beyond the sun and moon.
We can see past all that and recognize that life “under the sun”
is only a corridor. Above the sun is where we will ultimately live,
and it is only there that life earns its meaning

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

(excerpts from Holy Land Moments)