“So, which kind of soul would you like to be?”
G-d was studying the soul in front of Him as it squirmed with the heavy decision.
“I can’t decide, G-d! It’s just too hard!”
“I have an idea.”
G-d took the soul to the edge of Heaven.
“Watch these two kinds of souls on earth, see for yourself what it all means.”
The girl tossed a rock into the crashing waves.
“That rock could travel a thousand miles, get stronger and stronger, and eventually sink a boat,” the girl said.
“Well, that won’t really happen,” said the woman.
“But doesn’t it make you think?”
“The rock doesn’t mean more than what it was, dear.”
“But that would mean everything is just what it is.”
“Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
“That would be heartbreaking.”
The woman shook her head.
“You, my dear, spend too much time thinking about the maybes when there’s a world of yes and no’s for you.”
“But maybes mean that there’s always something new!”
“Maybe makes you unorganized and inefficient.”
“Do you think G-d says maybe?”
“No, I don’t think G-d says maybe, because G-d knows.”
“But maybe…He doesn’t? Maybe He waits for our prayers every morning, and then decides.”
“Why do you always think you know G-d?”
“Well, I wonder about Him. I like to pray to Him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Nobody likes prayer.”
“No, I just said: I like prayer.”
“You pray when you need something.”
“No, I pray to get to know Him.”
“Get to know who?”
“G-d, of course, who else?”
“I feel dizzy.”
The two walk along the water, each in their thoughts, in their world.
“Do you think…” the girl begins to ask.
“Just stop – stop thinking for a moment!” the woman tugs her jacket tighter.
The girl looks across the ocean, and does all of her thinking, but just inside her head. She squeezes her lips together in a desperate attempt to stop her all of her thoughts from falling out onto the beach.
She wonders about the fish in the sea, and what they would be feeling like on a cold day like today, and she wondered what she might be like as a fish, and what kind of fish she would be, and –
“But don’t you like to wonder?!”
“No. No, I don’t like to wonder, because what is the point of wondering?”
“Does everything have to have a point?”
The woman sighed.
She kneels on the cold hard sand and looks into the girl’s eyes.
“Don’t you ever think about how much easier life would be if you didn’t have to wonder, and question, and think about everything?”
The girl shook her head “well, that doesn’t sound like any fun.”
Suddenly, the girl spied a fish, flapping and fluttering, gasping for breath on the cold sand.
“Oh! It’s dying!”
The girl ran towards the fish, the woman following behind. But by the time they reached the fish, it had given up its last breath to the cold air.
Tears fill the girl’s eyes. The woman puts a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s just a fish, dear.”
“Why does everything always end with me in tears?” cries the girl.
“One day, sweetheart, you’ll learn to let things go, to stop wondering and hoping and thinking all the time, and life will be easier. Won’t that be wonderful?”
“That’ll never happen to me,” the girl said sadly, as she wiped her tears.
“So, soul. Have you made your choice?”
G-d moved back to the table.
“Oh, yes, G-d. I have.”
“What will it be then?”
“I’d like to wonder.”
26/52.
Featured Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash
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