THE QUIET MAN

I hear there is a new biography of Mother Teresa. In it, there is a revelation that she had trouble hearing G-d doing the height of her good works. Catholics around me are making a big deal about this, thus reminding me of another reason I became a Jew. Hearing or not hearing G-d doesn’t effect by belief in the Existence. I figure you come to faith already there; reinforcement seems somehow redundant.

I have a few other reasons to find someone’s disturbance on this matter curious. First, why do we need to hear Adonai in the first place? Doesn’t the Existence’s word echo loud enough in Torah? Doesn’t the depository of knowledge running from Talmud and our present day thinkers like Kustner and Wolpe give us enough pause? Is there so much more new in and about the world that we need more answers than what we already have? How much more guidance do we need? It is one of the things that annoy me as a psychologist. When I thought my job was nothing more than that of an overpriced advisor, I quickly found out that I was saying nothing different or more than my client’s family, just dropping $40 words around to make the answer sound important. I came to the point where I often wondered if my clients’ pleas of “why do bad things happen to good people” were really more reflective of an angry toddler, screaming “that’s not fair” than that of grown men and women pleading for help. They would all go running to the psychiatrist if they actually heard G-d answer back.

How do we know that even if G-d spoke to us we would like the answer? A good friend of mine suggests that G-d is a prankster. She thinks G-d puts roadblock so you can learn some lesson. I’m not sure about that. But if G-d has enough time to worry about my minor body aches and even more emotional trivialities, I am then not surprised he missed that little thing we call the Holocaust.

But maybe my friend has a point. Maybe G-d doesn’t talk because Adonai doesn’t have anything to say. Why talk when you’re a divine being. Maybe we are supposed to figure this out. Maybe the solution to our problems are “the process” like they say in psychology-speak. We know the answers but getting to them is half the fun. That’s it! G-d doesn’t want to spoil our fun!

If that’s the case, Mother Teresa must of died with a smile on her face.