How's Your Spark?

I had the privilege Wednesday evening, with my wife Janice, of being the guests of Governor and Mrs. Tom Wolf at the Pennsylvania State Dinner at the Governor’s Mansion. They invited approximately 100 people from across the state who work to make the state a better place, and I was humbled and honored to have been deemed worthy of such an accolade. The Governor and Mrs. Wolf greeted both of us warmly, as I have been with the governor previously, and was privileged to offer the invocation at his inauguration in January. Even greater, we sat at the Governor’s table, and had time to engage in conversation. More on that for another occasion.

I have had the opportunity these past nearly seven months to meet so many good people, ordinary people that I might never had met. People who do such wonderful things to make life better for their fellow citizens, frequently toiling in anonymity. Whether it be on CNN, KDKA, or in your community, there are so many who are engaged in making their towns a better place. I no longer wonder on the inspiration for their actions, as I have learned that it frequently can be from a catastrophic cause.

While there is certainly a religious component to what I say and do, I do not feel that my meager attempts to eliminate H speech are worthy of recognition. I see before me a society roiled in uncivil discourse, taking sides, unable to sit down and discuss what we used to be able to discuss without raising our blood pressure and voices. We all agree that this is unhealthy, but sometimes seem unable to tone it down. Thus my actions to at least remove the H word from our vocabulary, to lessen inflammatory rhetoric, and to find commonalities that we can use to work towards a shared common good.

Each of us is endowed with a Divine spark. My question to you is “How do use it?” Have you found a niche to express those things that matter to do your part to build a better society – Tikkun Olam? Or, is your spark a bit sooty and underutilized? If so, it is never too late to clear out the soot and let your Divine spark shine, inspiring others. Your city, country, and perhaps even the world awaits the moment to say: Wow! How wonderful this world is because you are in it. Make it so.