Leverage for Spiritual Growth

Do a lot with a littlesocial activism. Armed with not much more than
The zodiac symbol for the month of Kislev on thethe will to do, some pluck, and a well placed press
Hebrew calendar is an archer, what Westernconference, he spun his efforts into a massive
astrology calls Sagittarius. An archer uses a bow,campaign called Free the Children. Now 22, Craig
a simple tool that lets the archer send an arrowcontinues in a role as public speaker and activist.
farther and faster than he could with his bareBut when he began, it was his desire, not his
hands. He uses "leverage", like the power inherentresources that allowed him to accomplish so
in the month. Pulling the string puts tension in themuch.
wood, when released moves to the string whichIf you are looking for a sign or something to
sends the arrow flying. It does not take muchignite your passion there is no lack of problems in
strength to use a bow and arrow.the world to tackle and make planet earth a
We are presently in the month of Kislev whichbetter place. There is no lack of charities to
includes the holiday of Chanukah towards the end.donate your time and energy to. In order to
As a reminder, the Jewish/Kabbalah calendarmake a big impact, or attain a higher level of
follows the lunar cycle to define the start andspiritual growth, look for leverage.
finish of each of the twelve months. The fullCommon levers
moon is the exact middle of each month, theThere are many types of levers you can use to
time when the Biblical holidays tend to fall out.propel you farther or faster towards a spiritual
Chanukah falls towards the end of the lunar cyclegoal. You can look for them to be at your feet in
when the moon is on its way out, so to speak.front of your doorstep on a daily basis. The
Why is Chanukah different? Because Chanukah isAlmighty will put them there. If you don't merit
the symbol of the Israelites living in exile. It wasthat, for whatever reason, you will have to go
instituted by Israel's sages and has kept thefarther to search for them. And if you really
hearts and minds of the Israelites focused onvalue them, you will. They are priceless. Our
Divine assistance for centuries when the nationTorah has already indicated many levers that we
lacked the resources of a righteous king, sagescan access if we so choose.
and prophets to guide the people, etc. As theHere are four common levers that you can use
story goes, after pushing back the Greek army, afor spirituality:
small amount of oil was found to light the holy" a friend who shares your spiritual goals that you
menorah in the temple. This oil, enough for onlycan dialog with and bounce things off
one day, miraculously lasted for eight days, long" a mentor or guide who has already
enough for the priests to make more holy oil. Theaccomplished what you want to accomplish
Almighty allowed them to do a lot with a little," a piece of wisdom that motivates you that you
similar to the action of a bow and arrow.can repeat daily
Look for leverage" meditation/prayer on the goal you're focused on
Therefore, implanted in this month is a spiritualThe big leverage
force that can and will do the same for us, allowGod is big, huge....infinite in fact. You don't get
us to do a lot with a little. When Inbev boughtbigger than that. And the Almighty is there for us.
Anheuser-Busch, that was taking a lot and doingHe loves us. He wants us to succeed. If you want
business, however, when Colonel Sanders took ato accomplish anything of importance in this world,
chicken recipe and built it into a fast food empireHe's right there by your side. The only catch is
called KFC, that was doing a lot with a little. Manyyou have to continually remind yourself that He's
people are able to accomplish great things withthere and He loves you and He's helping you.
limited resources.Do you want happiness? Do you think if the
Most of us feel that there's little we can do aboutAlmighty helped you, you could raise your level of
child labor in third world countries. And if we werehappiness? Of course. All you have to do is keep
12 years old we'd feel even less resourceful. Butthese three things in mind. He's there. He loves
Canadian Craig Kielburger at the age of 12 wasyou. And He's helping you.
shaking up corporations and politicians with his