There’s no question that we are living in an unsettled world. Every week, a new disaster takes over the headlines. Nevertheless, amid all this chaos and destruction, we are able to find proof that the human spirit can still illuminate our way home in the darkness.
I just read about a 22-year-old woman in England who raised £20,000 to help pay for housing for a homeless man. Why? Because he had given her £3 to get home one night earlier in the month when she had lost her bank card. And every year, CNN honors 10 heroes of humanity who have done things to make this world a better place. One such honoree is Pablo Romero who started the non-profit called Los Patojos (Little Ones), which offers meals, classes, and medical care to children and teenagers in his community. Another is Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg who translated the pain of losing his two-year-old daughter to leukemia into Kids Kicking Cancer, a program that brings free martial arts classes to children with cancer so that they can learn how to manage their energy and pain.
At the Kabbalah Centre, we teach that Light comes out of darkness. Our spirit, strength, and heart are carved out of and made stronger by the trials and tribulations that we face. Humanity is finally waking up to this fact, and in the process, we are also waking up to a realization of our shared human experience, our interconnectedness of spirit, and that spark of the Creator that is within each of us.
Today, many of you will gather with friends and family to celebrate Christmas. Wherever you are and whatever you do, may you feel that spark of the Creator within you and extend it outwards in love and kindness.
I will leave you with the words of a song we sing here at the Kabbalah Centre (which are also part of a quote commonly attributed to the philosopher Albert Camus):
“Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend, and together we will walk in the way of God.”