Dignity Displaces Despair

Some years we drove from Tel Aviv to dinner in a mountainous region south of Jerusalem. I had decided to take what I thought was a short cut, bypassing Jerusalem traffic. As darkness descended, so did the clouds. We found ourselves driving in a thick fog. Really thick. We slowed to a crawl, behind the red brake-lights of a truck. They were the only thing that I could trust to make the hairpin turns. Then something unnerving happened. The truck stopped.

After a couple of minutes, I could barely see the driver getting out. He was waving at us. He was trying to tell us in Arabic: “turn around, go back.” His help was important. Really important. Because, in following him, I’d missed a sharp turn in the road, a quarter-kilometer back. We were headed down into his Village, rather than staying on the road to our destination. I thanked him and cautiously drove in reverse back up to the road. He’d kindly put us back on course. We were quite relieved to be headed in the right direction. 

The fog today is quite thick. “No sign appears for us, there is no longer a Prophet, nobody among us knows where we are headed” (Ps. 74:9). Yes, predictions are everywhere. Polls and pundits point this way and that way. Where can we turn for guidance?

The Tower of Babel, in this week’s portion of Torah, has an aim: Let us make for ourselves a great name (Gen. 11:4). Let’s become super-prestigious. By contrast, we pray a holiness prayer, Kaddish, which begins: “Let’s magnify and sanctify God’s great name”. That is, let us humbly and lovingly affiliate with what’s larger and lasting.

Even if we can’t see what’s ahead of us, we can take a look at what’s within us. That vast unmapped countryside inside you; regions where tenderness and grace are active. I’m talking about your soul, where all your thoughts and sensations are within reach of that soft, ambient light of God. 

If you’ve ever driven in foggy conditions you know high beams are less helpful. Instead, fog-lights point to the pavement, grounding you, allowing you to move gradually forward, using painted lines on the road’s edge as your guide. 

We want to be headed in a safe direction. Not an alarming one that emits despair, but an ambient one that emits decency and dignity. 

May our well-furnished inner lives help us emit gentle moments aglow with goodness this week. And thus, even in foggy times, may we keep in view along the road’s edge, formative words like: Let there be. And there was light. And it is good.