We all have good days and bad days. When we have a bad day, it is important to identify the good elements within that day, so that we don’t have a totally bad day.
And if we have a good day, can we make it better?
To explain the question more clearly, we can contrast light and dark. If good is light and bad is dark, then to transform darkness (bad) into light (good), all we have to do is turn on the light—even if it is difficult to find the switch. But if the light is already on and the room is bright, can we add more light? Or better yet, should we try to make the room brighter, when it is already light?
From a verse in this week’s Torah portion, Bereshit, we can glean some insight.
The verse says, “And G-d saw the light that it was good, and G-d separated between the light and between the darkness.”
Read the verse closely and you will see that it needs some clarification. If G-d saw that the light was good, doesn’t that mean that the light and darkness were already separated? How can light and darkness be mixed together?
The simple answer is that the light and darkness did not have set times within the day to be either light or dark, so G-d separated them and give each a set time for itself. However, we have to ask ourselves, what is the deeper message here?
You see, even “light” can have light and dark within itself. If good is good, isn’t better even better?
But in order to make the light in our lives even brighter, we must first separate the light from the darkness. Once we do that, we can truly appreciate the light. This improvement is constant and infinite. The more refined our lives, the better they are.
Yes, we take the moment to say “Our light is good,” but then we move on to make that light even brighter.
This lesson is pertinent today. Following such an inspiring month, we might say that our lives are so full of spiritual light, let us just ride this high for a while. But this verse teaches us that every bit of light has to be separated from darkness again and again, each time on a more sensitive level.
How do we do that? By constantly increasing the amount of meaning that we bring into our lives. Let’s continue to grow!
Edited by geminiwordsmiths.com