We were born with happiness,
By the grace G‑d granted us,
But driven by our fears in life,
We end with something less.
We pray that we will never die,
But there’s no escaping death;
We live, then die, that is the way,
Until the judgment day.
The joys and sorrows we have known
In which our souls are steeped,
Were shaped by choices that we made,
Not knowing what’s at stake.
It’s not the span that we have lived,
Surviving day to day,
But how we use the time we have
In our brief pending stay.
We are consumed by everything
No matter big or small;
And fret each moment how we feel
When there’s no threat at all.
Obsessing over every pain,
And the germs we never see,
the big investments we could make,
And the fear of poverty.
We want to grab for bliss right now
Forgetting who we are;
So when temptation’s near to us
We lose our guiding stars.
Our bodies die; that we know!
But not our G‑dly souls
Which will outlast the mark of death,
When it returns to rest.
We’re not meant to live in fear,
To cower in the dark;
Or find our lives are meaningless
Thus creating great despair.
We are meant to live the life
Which G‑d provides us every day:
To love our family, help our friends,
And the stranger on his way.
Joy has few complexities,
So try to understand,
And find the holy in yourself,
In work that G‑d demands.
Breathe the air of morning skies
As you waken to each day;
And greet the time that then ensues
With a child’s grateful eyes.
G‑d has given us a gift.
We should not squander it.
He only asks we do our best
In a life that He can bless.
So, seize the day with what you can
In ways that He has shown,
Ignore the less important things
And grasp the joy you own.
- Finding the Light of G‑d, pages 37 and 38
