Good Morning

“Today’s problems are so vast.  How could a single good deed amount to more than a drop in a bucket?”  Rabbi Joel Sisenwine warmly fielded the question. “Drops in a bucket may seem minor.  But we pray to God as the provider of dew drops (Morid Ha-Tal).  And sometimes a small drop is just what’s needed to sustain hope.”

We begin to acknowledge glistening dew drops on Passover.  And there is an interesting coincidence in the prophetic reading for the Festival’s first day.  We learn that heavenly Manna stoped appearing the day after the first Passover offering within the Land (Joshua 5:11-12).  Curiously, Manna is first introduced as being sandwiched by dew, above and below, like a protective bubble wrap (Ex. 16:13-14).  Perhaps seasonal dew can enwrap and inspire good deeds that feel heaven-sent. 

Faith institutions have recently been the settings for painful trauma. Tragic loss at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is contrasted with wickedness wrought in New Zealand and Pittsburgh.  The calendar now brings Communities of Faith to our solemn days.  Easter is this Sunday.  Passover spans the next week.  And Ramadan begins the following Sunday.

There is deep diversity in the ways of serving our Creator and Sustainer.  That diversity’s vision is not meant to sow division.  Each of us turns to our particular patterns and practices in this season to seed righteous generosity.  And we share a belief that Faith-centering Services should activate a will to serve.  They should offer more than lip service.  The Haggadah also wants our Seder story to feel personal.  It should be activating, even as we recline. 

The dew which whispers to the morning grass doesn’t do so with a Christian, Jewish, or Muslim accent.  Grass roots deeds do nourish like dew drops.  Surpassing mere drops in a bucket, their impact can feel heaven sent in a world so hungry for and deserving of sustainable hope. 

May this be a season when saying ‘Good morning’ stirs and generates ‘mornings of goodness.’