Daddy, Why Don’t We Take Off?
She wanted to fly. She had a beautiful airplane with all the right buttons. She was so close to success, yet she didn’t succeed. I wanted to help her...
I took my daughter to an amusement park. She wanted to go on the airplane ride.
She took her seat and fastened her seat belt. She radiated happiness. The ride began. The other children pressed the “fly” button and took off. But my daughter remained on the ground.
At first she didn’t realize that something was wrong, but then she started to worry. The other children were going higher and higher, while she remained on the ground. Time was passing quickly, and she understood that her time was limited.
I could see the pressure and worry clouding her face.
As I stood and watched her, my heart constricted with pain. I had brought my child here to enjoy herself. She wanted to fly. She had a beautiful airplane with all the right buttons. She was so close to success, yet she didn’t succeed. I wanted to help her.
I tried motioning her to press the button. Just press that button!
A minute passed, and then another.
She continued circling on the ground in total despair. Then she saw me! Our eyes met and she understood my gestures. She quickly leaned forward and pushed all the buttons, and — yes! She flew up in the air!
She only made half a circle before the ride was over.
When she got off the ride, she was radiant. She had been in the plane and she had flown!
Do you understand?
My Father in Heaven has also taken me to a giant amusement park. I have a wonderful airplane but instead of flying, I’ve been riding on the sidewalk like on a tricycle.
I had thought that this was the greatest pleasure possible. I had circled the ground, thinking that this was all there was. I lived in the world and my life was a routine of joy, sadness, love, envy, satisfaction, and discontent. But then I somehow heard the message from Above and I was afraid, “It can’t be that this is all there is. There must be something else!”
All around me were those who took flight. I could hear their distant exuberant cry, and I had no peace. I thought, “I’m missing out on something,” yet I remained on the ground.
Throughout this entire time, Father stood at a distance, signaling to me – but I never raised my eyes to find Him.
How many years can we live in this world without elevating ourselves, without letting ourselves fly? How much pain and suffering can the child and Father endure, when all it takes is a little button?
The Button is Prayer!
A human being – and only a human being – can, and has a need to, pray for what he is lacking.
Prayer is recognizing the existence of the Source of abundance, the only One Who has the ability to give and take. We realize that there is no reason we should not receive everything we need, and that the forces of nature are a euphemism for the Creator’s will.
When the one who prays receives the abundance he seeks, it carries a spiritual quality. It is a part of the Divine. Everything in creation is nourished from the Creator, but their sustenance is missing the vital ingredient called knowledge of God, closeness to God, the Infinite Light. This spark is reserved for those who pray.
When we receive what we need through prayer, we feel a special closeness to Hashem. The details of our daily routine become a reason for turning to Hashem, creating tracks leading to the Divine, and resulting in a wonderful conversation with the One Who spoke and the world came into being.
Rebbe Nachman says about a person who does not pray: “Although Hashem gives him clothing, livelihood and all his life’s needs, nevertheless, his whole life is like that of an animal, for Hashem gives sustenance to animals as well. Since he does not draw his life energy through praying to Hashem, his life energy is like that of an animal. A man must draw all his life energy and his needs from Hashem by means of prayer and supplications, and by no other means” (Sichot HaRan 233).
“Reb Nosson said that the reason Hashem helped him so much in his old age was because he set aside time for Hitbodedut and to converse privately with his Creator. He said he could not do anything without conversing first with Hashem.
“Reb Nosson said that one Motzei Shabbat Rebbe Nachman spoke with him about Eliyahu’s (Elijah the Prophet) Cave which he visited at one point during his stay in Eretz Yisrael. Amongst his holy words, Rebbe Nachman said: ‘I imagined to myself that Eliyahu HaNavi did Hitbodedut there.’ When Rebbe Nachman said this, Reb Nosson became very excited about the novelty of this idea, for he realized that Eliyahu was a human being who spent time in Hitbodedut, and through spending time in Hitbodedut he acquired a level so high that he never tasted the taste of death! Reb Nosson understood from the Rebbe’s holy words that even Eliyahu achieved his level because of Hitbodedut, for all the tzaddikim achieved their level only by means of Hitbodedut.
“Rebbe Nachman once spoke about Avraham Avinu’s (Abraham) burning heart. He was the first to serve His Creator day and night in self-sacrifice and make God’s Name known in the world. In the midst of the Rebbe’s holy discussion, someone sighed in pain, ‘How does one attain a heart like that?’
“Rebbe Nachman rebuked him and said, ‘You also have a heart like that; but you don’t warm it up!’ Every man has free will, and every man, even the lowliest of the low, has the power to achieve the greatest level” (Parparot L’Chachmah, Peticha).
Similarly, Reb Nosson wrote to his son: “Hashem does not value all the upper worlds, with all the angels who serve Hashem in awe and fear, are not valued by Hashem as much as He values a person’s conversation and prayer in this lowly world” (Michtavei Moharan’t, Alim L’Trufah, 202).
We do not need special talents or previous knowledge — no prerequisites are required. But we do need a strong desire. We need to believe in our Father, and to realize that He wants us to take flight. We just have to press the right button, the button of prayer.
(From: levhadvarim.com)
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