This morning, I was busy dragging two full shopping carts overflowing with goods through the busy aisles of Costco and trying to move quickly so that I could get back to Sudbury as soon as possible on this busy Friday. There was a long line at the checkout that stretched back to the back of the store, but thankfully it moved at a good pace and soon after that I was finally at the checkout.
The cashier was busy checking me out and we had just about rung up the contents of one shopping cart, when suddenly the fire alarm went off. In seconds, the workers were ushering everyone out of the store, and crowds of shoppers were streaming out the front door. As much as I wanted to simply just checkout I realized that I would have to abandon my shopping at the checkout and join the stream of people heading out.
Oh well, there go my plans to get back to Sudbury quickly as I was now “stuck” in the parking lot of Costco.
There was no actual smoke in the store, but we had to wait for the Fire Department to arrive and go through the store and give us the all clear. In the meantime as I stood outside the store, I made some phone calls and then started chatting with some people who were “stuck” just like I was. With one individual I actually had an in depth conversation regarding Jewish life, the Jewish community in Sudbury and his whole Jewish journey and background. He had been shopping for ice cream and had a business meeting to get back to, so after fifteen minutes of waiting he decided that between the melted ice cream and his upcoming meeting, he was going to leave, but not before we wished each other a Shabbat Shalom and exchanged numbers and made up to follow up with each other.
The truth is that my last two trips to Costco weren’t uneventful either, as the last trip included three discussions about Israel and peace in the Middle East with random strangers who approached me, and the time before that, a person was knocked over by a car and passed out in front of me, as I was loading my car. That time I took care of her as she lay on the floor and helped calm the senior who had knocked her down, as I stayed on the call with 911 until they arrived.
The truth is this is not a story about Costco, but about the concept of Divine Providence, which is a profound idea that is spoken of at length in Jewish and especially Chassidic teachings. The concept of Divine Providence does not minimize one’s free will, yet it does mean, that where one finds themselves in life is never by accident, one is never “stuck” in a place, rather it is part of a divinely orchestrated plan, that puts us in specific places at specific times.
The next part of the story, is where our free choice kicks in and how we choose to react and view the current circumstances. Do we let the moment of being stuck simply pass by and try and not be frustrated, or do we allow ourselves to recognize that our being here is not by accident and random and with that in mind, now let us make it meaningful.
This idea, is one of the messages that I heard many times from the Lubavitcher Rebbe whose Yahrziet is this Sunday. In his speeches and in many stories and anecdotes that I am aware of, he always encouraged people to use every encounter and experience in life, even the ones that seem to happen by accident or are undesired, to yield a greater good for the world around us. Let it be through another act of goodness and kindness, or by creating a meaningful and inspiring encounter, or building a new friendship, or doing a new Mitzvah, or maybe you have an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.
This vision and perspective of the Rebbe, is among the things that I think enabled the Rebbe to build so many bridges and have such a profound impact on not only the Jewish world, but the world at large.
Thank to this perspective and trying to be mindful of it, I have many close relationships with people I met in the most random places, including at the Sudbury Town Dump, an unplanned stopover in Munich Airport, a mistaken gate at JFK Airport, a Gas Station in the Shomron, the Post Office in Sudbury, Trader Joe’s in Framingham and so many more.
My life has certainly become richer through each one of these new found friendships and I think it has always been mutually beneficial. Each time, I could have stayed self-absorbed in my own world and life would have just been fine, but by engaging and acknowledging those around me, those experiences themselves became more meaningful and I have richer and deeper relationships with others, which I know are helping make the world into a better place.
So in our fast paced world, where people and stories are moving faster than ever, and where “stories, are disappearing after 24 hours”, let us stop and realize the greater picture of each and every experience. Each moment and encounter is an opportunity that can simply disappear in time, or it can be used to build relationships, touch someone else’s life, or inspire and uplift another human being.
Good Shabbos & Shabbat Shalom
Yisroel