It’s been a rocky road from Freedom to the Promised Land – an
army in pursuit, an (im)passable sea, doubling
back, detouring, fighting, stopping, running out of water. And now that they’ve arrived at their
destination … giants. “The country that
we traversed and scouted is one that devours its settlers. All the people that we saw in it are men of
great size” (Numbers 13:32). The Hebrews
have marched gallantly. They realize that
they won’t make it only now that the Promised Land is within reach.
I am writing this dvar Torah on the floor of Chicago Midway
Airport. It’s midnight. My flight has been delayed several hours due
to weather. Another, bound for Charleston,
has just been cancelled for the night and I’m wondering whether we’re
next. We’ve been bounced from concourse
to concourse. The restaurants are closed
except for one or two. There’s no
telling how this night will end.
“The whole community broke into loud cries, and the people
wept that night. All the people railed
against Moses and Aaron” (Numbers 14:1-2).
There’s a crowd of upset people pointing fingers at the flight managers,
and I don’t blame them – but I don’t understand them, either. What is the airline supposed to do – fly in
violation of FAA rules? What’s yelling
at the gate attendant going to accomplish?
It’s mighty frustrating, but what do they think can be done? At least we aren’t crossing the prairie in
wagons or the stormy sea by steamer. It’ll
be late and unpleasant, but we’ll all be dry and safe and get where we need to
go eventually.
Sometimes, things don’t work out as planned. You can get upset and frustrated all you
want, but you’d do better to roll with it.
I’m concerned about my son spending the night on a cot. I’m concerned about my appointments
tomorrow. But muscling your way through
life, determined that there’s only a single satisfactory ending, will only get
you a sore back. “Man plans. God laughs,” the Yiddish saying goes. Let go of the illusion of control, and go for
a ride.
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