A new moon.  That means there really is NO moon.  On a moonless night, we can see all the stars (assuming it’s not going to be stormy or cloudy tonight- which now that I am proofing this today- is, indeed, going to be the case).  And, in my religion, it’s the advent of a new month.

But, that’s not the subject of today’s blog.  No, we are going to talk about faith and fear.  Faith, because when you believe  in the Supreme Being, it means you can be a better leader.  “What?”, you say?   Yes.  Because, if you believe in the Supreme Being, you believe that we all can do better, we all can improve.  And, that’s what a leader must do- bring out the best in every one of his followers.  And, to occasionally be a follower him(or her) self…. because sometimes there is someone out there that can do that one thing we need to do now better than we can.

But, there are other lessons.   Last week (when I wrote this), the weekly portion described the saga of the 12 spies who were sent to see what the land of Israel was like.  And, they came back telling the people that the land could not be conquered.  The consequence of this event meant the Children of Israel were to spend 40 years traveling in circles, waiting for the current generation to die off.

The official explanation is that they did not have enough faith.  That most of the spies were so wedded to their slave mentality that they could not recognize that their fortitude- and the additional help of the Supreme Being- would make the land theirs.  (Don’t get me started about the problems that ensue when folks believe that G0d is on their side- and the other side is G0dless.  That explains almost every war that has devastated our civilizations.)

But, what happens if the spies had the faith?  But, they also had the slave mentality.  That they were petrified what it would mean to leave the sheltering presence of the Supreme Being.  That they would conquer the land; that they would have to sow, reap, and harvest the land for their food;that they would have to fend for themselves and become a self-reliant people.

And, for that fear, the Supreme Being punished the Children of Israel.  Because there is no excuse for not trying.  Not trying to succeed, not considering the potential of failure and the lessons it provides, not becoming self-reliant.

That is our job.  To reach for the stars. (‘Ad Astra’ was the motto of my undergraduate school.) To do the impossible.  (Do you think inventing an artificial kidney was thought to be a normal concept for a teenager to attempt?  Or, to develop new drugs and devices?)

That’s why I know the Supreme Being is there for us. Not to be our crutch, not to provide us with all those creature comforts we desperately want (no, I won’t refuse those things if they come my way), not to give us all we want.  The Supreme Being lets us know we can do better.

And, sometimes, when everything works, we can make the biggest difference in this world- by saving a life or two.  (You do know helping someone make a living is like saving their life.  It’s not that all-encompassing a proposition.  Every little step is a critical one…)

To the world, you are one person…
to one person, you are the world.

Go find that world….

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