G-d needs a new PR firm!

The Burning Bush. Great Material for a good movie. But an icon to represent G-d?? Ouch!

Choosing an icon is critical to any business. The subliminal message is very powerful and could potentially generate million dollar deals. Did you ever notice how the FedEx logo has a hidden arrow inside it? Companies from Apple to Coca Cola invest millions in developing the perfect logo.

Isn’t it a little strange that G-d chooses a thorn bush as his logo? Couldn’t He choose a pretty hibiscus or hyacinth? How about a luscious apple or avocado tree? But a thorn bush-seriously? This just isn’t good for business! No wonder religion has such bad PR!!

Upon closer examination we find a beautiful message here: The burning bush had the passion of fire deliberately mixed together with the pain of thorns.

When we experience a moment of inspiration, on Yom Kippur, a wedding or birth of a (grand)child, or just out of the blue, we are animated like fire. We’re all aflame and we feel so spiritual! But then reality sets in and we recognize that we still have so many ‘thorns’, so many imperfections, and we dismiss our inspiration as a passing fad with no bearing on who we really are.

As he approaches the Burning Bush, G-d tells Moses that ‘the ground upon which you tread is holy’. Herein lies one of Judaism’s greatest revolutions: Holiness is not the state of perfect inspiration. Holiness is the state of imperfect goodness. Thorns and all!

The Burning Bush inspires us to celebrate our ‘fire’, our yearning to be more spiritual, even when we are filled with ‘thorns’, all our imperfections!