You shall rejoice with all of the good Hashem gave to you… (Devarim 26:11)

Rabbi Avigdor Miller points out how Shabbos is a beautiful blessing we received from Hashem, but how many people do not utilize it properly. We should think and concentrate on all of the blessings we have in life. He specifically mentions how we should be thankful for the miracles of bread, salt, and water and how much we take for granted. Be thankful for the wind which blows the carbon dioxide to the plants to keep them alive. If it was not for the wind, we would not have bread! Also, we should be grateful to Hashem for bringing oxygen and hydrogen together miraculously to form water. Imagine if all you had was oxygen or hydrogen; you would be very thirsty as neither could be drunk by itself. We need to concentrate on all of the good things in our lives.

On Labor Day, I had plans to fly from Fort Lauderdale, FL, to Columbus, OH, for business. My itinerary had me leaving Florida at 1pm, landing in Charlotte, NC around 3pm, getting on my next flight at 4pm, and landing in Columbus around 5:30pm. Well, things did not work out the way they were planned. Due to terrible storms, my first flight did not land until 5:30pm. The airline’s customer service was able to switch me to a different flight which was scheduled to leave at 7:30pm. We pulled away from the gate around 8pm, but due to bad weather (again) we sat on the runway for over an hour. Finally, the pilot announced that we would be returning to the airport gate and the flight was cancelled. So at 10pm, I ran back to the customer service counter to see what could be done. They put me on a 11pm flight to Philadelphia and then I would fly from Philly to Columbus at 9:40am the next morning. I finally arrived in Columbus at 11:30am and made it to work about 4 hours later than planned.

I have been thinking a lot about this journey and although it was aggravating, I really should be so thankful. Let’s think about it. It is over 1000 miles from Fort Lauderdale to Columbus. Driving a car would take approximately two days. Riding a bike would take even longer. Walking would take months and also be very tiring (especially carrying luggage). But it took me under 24 hours to travel from South Florida to the capital of Ohio! It’s a miracle!

Around 10pm, when I found out my flight to Columbus was being cancelled, I reached into my pocket and took out my cell phone. Within a few seconds, I was talking to a co-worker to tell him I would be late. I also called my wife and asked her to go the internet to find out what time was Neitz (sunrise) in Philadelphia for Tuesday morning so I could daven at the proper time. My wife quickly found out this time to the exact second that the sun would be rising over Philly! How lucky we are to have such technological advances which make our lives so much easier!

Every location I was at during those 24 hours had air conditioning. I went from my air conditioned car to the airport to the airplane to the airport to another airplane to a van that brought me to the air conditioned hotel that I stayed at in Philadelphia. Even though the weather was nasty outside (hot in Florida where I started, rainy in Charlotte and Philadelphia), I was always comfortable. Do we ever thank Hashem for creating air conditioning?

How great is our life!!!!

The Gemara states a wealthy person is one who has a bathroom next to his dining room table. Years ago, people needed to walk outside to an out-house, but now we all have bathrooms next to our dining room tables. We are all extremely wealthy! We not only have running water inside our bathrooms, but even have air conditioning inside of them! We have so much good in our lives! Don’t forget to thank Hashem!

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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