Hashgacha Pratit

Hashgacha pratit. Divine providence.

It’s the thread that runs through the fabric of our universe. The point where two roads meet unexpectedly, where worlds collide and familiar faces say, “I know you. I’ve seen you before.”

It’s hearing the words we need to hear at the exact moment we need them. It’s the dawning realization that God determines the smallest details – even those which seem minute and expendable. It’s the fact that nothing, not one single word, event, or person, is misplaced. It’s that clarifying moment when we finally grasp the weight of an event or experience which led us here, precisely where we need to be.

Divine providence – the reminder that God cares, He loves us, and He moves with us through every fiber of existence. It’s the tapestry of time spread out beneath, within, and around us – each thread carefully chosen, all woven together to form this life which we dare to call coincidence.

Divine providence, which we cannot fully grasp at this present moment, but which we will come to know in its fullest at the revelation to end all revelations. The ultimate of the ultimate, when we no longer see glimpses in a mirror, but we see it plainly, with our own eyes.

For now, we see hints, hear whispers. It lies in that feeling we get when we place our hands on weathered stone. It beckons us when an old song plays, or when a loved one smiles. It sings a tune we know only viscerally, at the very depths of our souls.

Sometimes it’s the merest flutter of recognition, a breath of connection, which is quickly engulfed by the throes of activity and noise.  And still other times, it is nostalgia at its worst. The pain from an old wound, our scars consuming us.

It’s the awareness of that centuries-old hope, the yearning we have felt for home, which, despite the tumultuous years, has never died.

It’s an ancient prayer recited across generations.

Divine providence – the absolute faith that this is all in His hands.

I have spoken, so I will bring it to pass; I have designed it, so I will complete it.

Isaiah 46:11