Our Awesome, Detail Oriented, Know-It-All G-d

Life has all kinds of little annoyances. And the other day I was experiencing one of them; cold, wet, heavy snow. Truth be told, sometimes I get very excited about the snow. But when winter is coming to an end and spring is supposed to have sprung, the familiar white flakes can make anyone groan. Spring fever takes a whole new meaning around here. Everyone is so excited to get out and enjoy some warm weather but, at an ironic twist, this is our snowy season. While everything was thawing after a storm, I was out looking around at all the snow that was melting. All the water that was pouring down the roads and gutters and I realized something, despite how inconvenient the snow can be, this is all a part of the incredible detail that G-d embedded in everything when He created all the beauty around us. This is a fairly dry area. So lots of moisture is needed to get things green. By enabling our climate to have a moisture filled early spring, enough moisture will get into the ground to allow nature to hit the reset button when things really warm up. Then the grass, the flowers, the trees, everything has what it needs to explode into the beautiful colors we get after they’ve had their long sleep.

Do yourself a favor. Go out into nature sometime soon and look around...I mean REALLY look around. Stand in the water of the ocean or a lake and feel it move around you. Watch a running stream move and bend for things like rocks or trees or even yourself, but at the same time, have the power to knock you right over if the conditions were right. Stand at the very top of a mountain and see the height of it that allows you to see for miles in all directions. Feel the wind as it slides around you, playing with your hair and clothes. Look closely at a flower. See the veins and pigments that are a part of it. Individual little details that, when you stand back and take it in as whole, creates this beautiful plant. If you see an animal, watch how they move. Some move quickly and in all different directions so that they can react quickly to predators. Others can run at incredible speeds straight across an open plain. Then you have those that are slow but have great mass like the elephant or the hippo. Some, like many cat species, are able to move in almost perfect silence in order to sneak up on their prey. I could go on and on about this for many pages, but I won’t.

My point is that when G-d created everything, when He brought it all together, He went to such incredible detail. He knew we would need warmth, so He created the sun. Yes, it’s bright and it can burn our skin and fades the colors from things, but we would die without it. He made the Earth turn so that we could have a night and day as well as keep our feet planted firmly on the ground. He even arranged everything just right so that when the giant land mass that used to exist split into many smaller land masses, everything would be in the right place to survive the right climate. He even gave everything the ability to evolve. Now when I say evolve, I am not saying that Adam and Eve were monkeys. I personally don’t believe that and I have no interest in arguing about it. We were created in G-d’s image. It says so in the Torah and, there for, it must be so. But I do think everything has the ability to adapt to the surroundings. People in colder climates acquire thicker blood to help them keep warm. They actually get used to the temperatures around them and feel comfort (to a reasonable point). You take someone that is used to the cool air and send them to the equator; they are going to feel the heat more than others that have become climatized to it. I am originally from an area with considerable humidity in the air and moved to a place with very dry air. It didn’t take long for me to adjust to the dry air and when I went back to visit, the humidity that had been normal to me my whole life, was now very uncomfortable.

Basically, I am trying to help you really see the kind of details that G-d puts into His work, and what’s more, that He obviously knows that He’s doing. He thinks ahead, He carefully considers, and He knows exactly what is needed. How many of you have looked out the window at the weather like I have and just groaned because it wasn’t what you would prefer it to be? The rain, snow, and wind seem to have such bad timing don’t they? If not for that rain coming down now, you would be complaining later about how dry things have become. It goes beyond the weather too. We all complain or are annoyed from time to time. Where I am from, we call them pet peeves; the little things that drive a person crazy. They vary from person to person, but nonetheless, we all have them. One of mine is people who drive slowly. Sadly, I acquired a “lead foot” somewhere between the age of 16 and now. (I try to blame genetics but my parents will argue that one straight to the grave.) So on a bad day (like when I am running late) even people going the speed limit seem slow. Impatience at its best, I know. More than once though, G-d has put me in my place when it comes to this. I will be following someone who’s watching their speed, I’ll be getting annoyed, and then low and behold, we pass by a police officer that is checking everyone’s speed. Had I not been behind this person rather than hurrying like I wanted too, I would have found myself getting a ticket.

There are so many little things in life that we can waste our time getting annoyed with or moaning about. I’m not saying that all worries or irritations aren’t valid. But we need to carefully consider what we are putting our time and energy toward. When you realize it’s something unnecessary, consider something productive that you could have put that energy toward instead...and then do it. Also, never forget to take the time to really see the kind of love and work G-d puts into everything around you. He knew every little thing that was needed and He certainly does know exactly what He’s doing. When I have my days where the human side of me wants to question that, I remember the ways He makes Himself known. Not just the big ways, the small ways too, the ways that only I can see. I hope you will do the same.

G-d Bless!

K