There is a God (by Rabbi Solomon Foster)
"The fool hath said in his heart: 'There is no God'". (Psalms 14:1)
The flowers at my door present a code
That proves earth's kinship with infinity,
Ties human goals to cosmic unity,
And links the universe to my abode.
Its floral text, writ in a matchless mode,
Expounds in unexampled clarity
These three majestic symbols: G-O-D,
As Light which shines upon life's every road.
From gifts of God, our homes and souls are made;
God gives true love its highest ecstasy;
God charts each righteous cause to victory;
God heeds each fervent prayer that earns the Divine's aid.
With God, the true, the brave, the wise endure.
Without God, waste and woe and war are sure.
I have recently begun to read a collection of poems by Rabbi Solomon Foster entitled
Spiritual Trails to Happiness. In this book, Rabbi Foster uses scriptural verses as a jumping off point for poetic expresssion on a number of topics including, The Assurance of Divinity, The Foundations of Humanity, and The Spirituality of Love.
R. Foster expresses his feelings on such topics through his poetry and his writing his imbued with a deep sense of spirituality, faith and an intimate relationship with the Divine. For this reason, I find his writing fascinating but also challenging.
How can one connect with the Presence that is supposedly all-powerful, all-knowing, and infinitely present, yet so distant and "unknowable" at the very same time? During the first half of my rabbinical studies at Hebrew Union College I rarely engaged in conversations of the Divine that strayed outside of the academic. It has only been in the last three years that I have ventured into the exciting spiritual plain that often feels like a abyss.
The poem above speaks of God's light "which shines upon life's every road." One of our very own, Bat Mitzvah Amy Blowers recently spoke of God as a spark that resides in each of our souls or perhaps even is that soul. Perhaps it is the belief, faith or sense that God is a part of us, inseparable from all other parts and aspects that gives us strength in the most difficult of times and brings tears of joy and pride in the best of times. What a blessing it is for our community that we have young people like Amy who can capture sparks of God and create new words of Torah from which we can learn so much.
