Cash For Clunkers – Spiritual Clunkers
Preparing for New Year
Zalman, my son, needed transportation so I gave him my old clunker, an 8-seater GMC van. It was banged up on all sides, had lousy mileage, and moved slowly. It was an ugly gas guzzler, but it worked.
My six children grew up traveling in one family van. School outings, shopping trips to the Mall and parks. The van, when new, was a great looking vehicle but over the many years it went from a fancy recreational van to a ‘wreckreational van’.
Zalman had wheels and that’s what counted. Rochel, his wife, a preschool teacher, was safe in this big, well used van. I figured that the van would last forever.
But then came a cash for clunkers program. A government plan to bail out the ailing car industry. It would accomplish many things like ridding the country of gas guzzlers and pollution while stimulating the car industry. It goes without saying it was a program that got new cars on the road, making everything look neater and cleaner.
The program promised up to $4,500 in credit for the old used van. Imagine, what was ugly and wasteful now became an asset. Incredibly clunkers became down payments for new cars. What a wonderful idea?
All this got me thinking about the approaching Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. Many of us are spiritual clunkers. We are run down, banged around, and kind of slow and unresponsive to spirituality. We hardly go to a House of Worship. We are in the slow lane. Just clunking along. Our spiritual behavior leaves us in the deficit. Sometimes when we are in the doldrums we feel rejected and may become depressed, thinking how will I ever change? How can I change? Is there a second chance for my life? I need to turn around and get moving. I want change!
Well there is a second chance. We are told the New Year is coming and it’s the birthday of man. And on birthdays you get a chance to fix things and change. You can take all those minus experiences and make them a plus. The bad stuff you did in the past will not be repeated. You now know better. In math there is a rule – a minus multiplied by a minus equals a plus. Bad experiences become lessons not to repeat. So you learn from them. Your spiritual minus become a plus and even a down payment for the New Year.
So take your spiritual clunker and cash it in for a better self. You can look new, feel new, and act new. Rosh Hashanah is a spiritual stimulus time to get your spiritual self moving ahead.
So this New Year, Friday night September 18 take the offer and trade in your spiritual clunker for a spiritual stock. Have a family meal, eat and dip the customary apple in honey, wishing each other a sweet New Year. And yes, my son Zalman traded in the van and now has given his wife a brand new car, making them a happy couple for the New Year.
A Happy New Year to all of you.