Hanukkah Day Five — Take Time to See the Light
Maybe you've had this experience: You are driving somewhere and before you know it, you arrive — only you don't remember getting there!
While you were driving, your mind was elsewhere — making the grocery list, thinking about an argument that you had with your spouse last night, or planning a meeting coming up later in the day. Your body was physically present in the car, but your mind wasn't.
This phenomenon can creep up in all areas of our lives. We may look like we are driving, cooking, working or reading a story to our child, but really, we are living in the past, or the future, or in the next room. Sadly, when we do this, we miss out on life that is happening right before us. And consequently, we could also be missing out on great opportunities.
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Consider that just before Moses encountered God in the burning bush, Scripture tells us that "the LORD saw that he had gone over to look." The Jewish sages teach us that Moses was not the only one to pass by the burning bush; however, he was the first one to really notice it. He also was the first one to take the time to look at it and investigate. When God saw that Moses went over to look at the bush, that's when He appeared to Moses. Had Moses passed right by, lost in his thoughts, Moses may have never become Moses!
The message here is that we have to be present if we are going to get all that we can out of our lives. We have to notice what's going on right here, right now. It's only when we take the time to really see what's going on around us that we can encounter God. When we live distracted and fragmented lives, we will have a hard time even catching a glimpse.
According to Jewish law, once the Hanukkah lights are kindled, these candles aren't allowed to be used for anything; they are exclusively so we may look at them. For example, we can't use them for a reading light, and we can't use them for lighting other candles. We are supposed to sit next to the candles for a half-hour and just look at them — nothing else.
In Psalm 46:10 we read: "Be still, and know that I am God." It is a good reminder for all of us, particularly in this very busy holiday season for both Christians and Jews. Let us find the time to be still and appreciate the light that's all around us. Let's be fully present in the glorious moment that is now. Let's take the time to really see each other — and maybe, we just may catch a glimpse of God.
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein is the founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which now raises more than $140 million per year, mostly from Christians, to assist Israel and the Jewish people. Since its founding, The Fellowship has raised more than $1.4 billion for this work. The organization has offices in Jerusalem, Chicago, Toronto and Seoul.
