What’s the Best Place to Find God?

A great Hassidic rabbi once asked someone “Where is God?” The person to whom the question was posed answered, “Everywhere.”
“No,” said the rabbi. “God is where He is let in.”
One of the difficulties with finding God is that God is invisible (a major Jewish tenet) and that it is difficult to try to find something that you cannot see.
Of course, there are many things that we cannot see, but we can find or feel. If we are outside on a windy day, we can easily feel the wind on our face and hair. 
For me, one of the best places to go find and feel God’s presence is out of doors. I love nature and enjoy taking nature hikes. As a child, I used to take walks in the forest, especially in the fall when the colorful leaves were dropping to the ground.
I would often collect the leaves, press them and put them in a scrapbook, trying to label them as I went along. It was in the quiet of the forest where I felt very close to God. I think it was a combination of the beauty of the trees and the tranquility of the place.
A couple of months before my 13th birthday (soon to become a Bar Mitzvah) my parents sent me to my first sleep-away camp some 150 miles north of Toronto, Canada.
For the first time in my life, I saw the spectacular northern lights in the sky, shooting stars and a magnificent fish hatchery. I attended this camp for eight successive years, but I shall never forget an experience I had my very first summer while sitting with my fellow campers at an outdoor Sabbath prayer service on a Friday evening as the sun was setting.
All campers and staff were required to wear all white, and we were sitting outside on log benches, facing a beautiful lake surrounded by white birch trees. As we rose at the end of services to sing one of the final prayers, the sun shone through the treetops and made the white clothing of all of the participants glisten.
The birch trees seemed to sparkle too, and I felt my body shudder, looked up at the magnificent sky, and experienced God’s Presence like never before.
It’s been 57 years since that experience, and I still remember it as though it happened only yesterday.
As the summer approaches and the outdoors becomes more accessible, you will have even greater opportunity to spend time looking and listening for God’s Presence.
Here are several suggestions.
•    The next time you go for an outdoor walk and find yourself in a relaxed mood, listen carefully to the sounds all around you.
•    When you next have an opportunity to attend a church or synagogue worship service, take the time to ponder the words of one particular prayer or hymn and concentrate on it.
•    Walk along the boardwalk of the ocean and listen to the rushing water.
•    Gaze at the summer meteor showers in your area. Then reflect on your place in the universe.
•    Watch a sunrise or sunset.
•    Listen to a bird’s calling and stop for the sheer pleasure of its sound.
Psalm 29 describes God’s voice as having the capability of breaking cedar trees, hewing out flames of fire, stripping forests bare, making rushing waters and driving rain.
Take some time to hone your listening skills, find some time to close your eyes and meditate, and pay more attention to the beauty of nature all around you.
I’d love to hear from you about a time that you felt or heard the voice of God. Please do be in touch.
Wishing you blessings of peace and shalom!
Rabbi Ron Isaacs is Interim Rabbi of Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood. He can be reached at his website www.rabbiron.com.