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The writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau spent two years living on the north shore of Walden’s Pond, located near Concord, Massachusetts. For Thoreau, the pond symbolized the spiritual significance of nature. Thoreau would often bathe in the pond,
“reminding him of nature's endless capacity to renew life and stirring him to higher aspirations.”
Most of us have a special place where we go to find inspiration, renew our spirit, seek solace, and maybe even discover God’s presence in life. Each of us has our own Walden’s Pond. For me, it’s a cliff located on Whidbey Island, Washington overlooking the waters of Puget Sound, and the natural beauty of the Olympic peninsula with its majestic snow-covered mountains in the distance. It was here I first discovered God’s presence in my life. It was here I experienced Thoreau’s Walden’s Pond. It was here I understood the meaning of Jacob’s ladder.
After cheating his brother Esau out of his birthright, and later his father Isaac’s blessing, Jacob flees from the anger and wrath of his brother. That night, alone in the darkness, Jacob lies down to sleep. During his sleep he dreams of a ladder extending from the earth to the heavens. All the while, angels of God are ascending and descending the ladder. When Jacob awakes in the morning he proclaims, “Surely God is present in this place, and I did not know it. How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven (Gen. 28:16-17).” It was in this moment, and in this place, that Jacob encountered God for the first time. This was his “ah’hah” moment. Life would never be the same.
Professor Abraham Joshua Heschel taught, “The true meaning of existence is disclosed in moments of living in the presence of God.” The awesomeness of these transcendent moments open the eyes of humankind to the precious gift of life and the responsibility to protect and enhance it. For the 20th century existentialist Martin Buber, “God is at the heart of every human encounter. He/She is the Eternal Thou that is experienced in every genuine meeting between two people.”
There are the two simple words from the first chapters of Genesis-“B’Tzelem Eloheim”-fashioned in the image of God.” God is a part of each human being, waiting to be discovered in the darkness of night, on the shores of a pond, or on a cliff overlooking the magnificence of nature.
Rabbi Howard Siegel
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