“Merge like a zipper,” my husband said as we drove (crawled) towards the Dease Tunnel in the heavy early morning ferry traffic on our way to visit relatives on the mainland.
“What?” I asked, as I turned my gaze from the surrounding fields to the road ahead.
“Merge like a zipper. That's what the sign said,” he replied.
“A sign said that? A highway sign? What did it look like?”
I had never heard this phrase before, let alone seen it as a road-sign...but the idea intrigued me.
As my husband described the sign, I watched the vehicles in front of us merging smoothly from two lanes into one: hatchbacks, sedans, sports cars, mini-vans, RVs, long-haul trucks...and then it was our turn. Smooth. No stopping and starting; no rude looks from drivers beside us or honking horns. A progression of people from places unknown all moving towards their destinations in peace. I smiled.
And as often happens to me, my worldview expanded to see this as a metaphor for an ideal community, and I wondered if I could capture these fleeting thoughts before they disappeared, the way a dream often fades upon waking.
In Judaism, we believe that one of the ways we build a personal relationship with our Creator is through the way we conduct ourselves with others. Yes, we pray and have many rituals (which vary from culture to culture) but these are empty if we don't treat people -- all people -- with fairness and kindness.
We believe that every person has a soul, a spark of the Creator within them. It is that soul that we must see, even when the person before us thinks and behaves differently than we do; and yes, even when they want to do us harm. As you can imagine, this isn't an easy task but, it is the only way to achieve Tikkun Olam...to repair the world...to create a world where everyone has value and purpose.
Not only do we seek to repair the world through kindness to others, but also by elevating everyday tasks and the objects we use to do them to a higher level. We can do this through prayer—thanking G-d for all all we have--and also by making sure that we use objects to do good in the world.
For example, I am using my computer to create this article that may help someone see a way to find the good and see our Creator in ordinary things. Through this Spiritually Speaking blog a small part of the internet is elevated each time someone benefits from ideas put forth by the diverse group of writers who contribute their spiritual knowledge and thoughts here.
Now, back to the zipper!
A zipper is made of many individual 'teeth' attached to fabric. Its purpose (beyond fashion) is to close a gap -- to provide some form of protection to the person or thing enclosed within the fabric. People are like the zipper’s teeth; and, our acts of kindness are the zipper-pull that merges us together and makes us strong. The more acts of kindness we do, the more we merge together to create a strong community of individuals who care for one another.
I don't think I will ever look at zippers the same way again. How about you?
Fiona Prince is Communications & Behavioural Consultant in Victoria, BC. She volunteers for Chabad Vancouver Island, teaching children and adults how to read Hebrew. To learn with her, go to www.morahfaiga.com.
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking HERE.
