Once upon a time, long ago in the European Middle Ages, there was a very highly respected rabbi. He was so revered by all who knew him because of his unwavering positive nature. No matter what negative event would befall him or those around him, he would always say, "Even in this, there is good."

Now, rabbis were hard to come by among the various Jewish communities of middle-age Europe. In order to serve all the communities it was necessary for the few rabbis to travel from one community to another. Communities during this time usually did not exist outside city walls, for law and order did not extend very far into the countryside and not at all in the deep forests.. Bandits and pirates freely traveled the roads, pillaging, robbing and killing anyone unfortunate enough to encounter them. This is why the cities had walls encompassing them as a protection against such dangers. At night, the city gates would be locked securely and no one would be allowed to enter or leave the city until the next day. Even a peaceful traveler could not gain entrance into the city once the gates were locked for the night. 

This particular rabbi traveled on foot, making it necessary to travel light, but he always carried with him at least three essential items; a copy of the Holy Torah, a candle, and a rooster. The purpose of the candle was to provide light so that he (the rabbi, not the rooster) could read his Torah at night. His rooster was the middle-age version of an alarm clock.

Since the rabbi traveled on foot he would attempt to embark early enough to reach the next city before sun down when the city gates would be locked. On one occasion, however, he had been delayed and perhaps stayed a little too long in a field of berries along the way. It was already getting dark and his destination city was yet another hour's walk in the distance. The rabbi knew that he could never reach the city before the gates were locked. Still, as he hurried along he thought, "Even in this there is good."

Just as he was thinking about how good God is, the rabbi spotted a clump of woods in a field just off the road. He thought that this would be a good place to take refuge for the night, so he headed into the woods thinking, "Yet another blessing from God!" He set his rooster down on the ground and gathered some dry wood to build a fire so that he would stay warm through the cold night. The rooster pecked and scratched around the rabbi as he prepared the fire, but suddenly, a wolf darted out from behind some trees, snatched the rooster, and carried it off into the darkened woods. The startled rabbi looked on, helpless to retrieve his alarm clock! ....After a moment as he collected his thoughts, once again he reassured himself, "Even in this there is good."

Once the rabbi had his camp fire stable, providing a nice radiating warmth, he lit his candle and settled down on some nearby brush that became a soft bed, and he began to read passages from his copy of the Torah. He had just settled in when an unexpected gust of wind snuffed out his candle. After a moment sitting in the darkness, the rabbi thought, "Even in this there is good."

He rose with his candle and went over to the fire so that he could once again light his candle, but before he could reach the fire a sudden cloud-burst sent a gush of cold wind and a torrent of heavy rain that flooded and extinguished the entire campfire. Everything was soaked and the night chill could be felt slowly seeping through to the bone. Cold and wet and silent for a moment, the rabbi thought, Even in this there is good."

He managed to find a dry spot deep under some overgrowth bushes where the ground was dry and somewhat protected from the wind. There he spent the night and he even managed to get some much needed sleep, but just before nodding off, having said his prayers, he pulled his coat more tightly around his shivering body as he thought, "Even in this there is good."

The rabbi awoke with a start, realizing that the sun had already been up for some time. He grabbed his blanket and copy of the Torah and hurried down the road toward the city. When he finally arrived at the city gates there was a great commotion. The rabbi saw that there were a number of men at the gate and some who were shackled and appeared to be under arrest. When the rabbi inquired into the matter he learned that the arrested men were robbers who frequently traveled the road, killing their victims and taking whatever they could. They had been unsuccessful in finding anyone to rob for some time and, in desperation, they had attempted to gain forced entrance into the city. "It's a good thing you didn't cross their path in the night, Rabbi," remarked the sheriff, "or surely they would have killed you!"

The rabbi thought about how his rooster had been silenced and the glow from the candle and the fire had been put out. The torrent of rain ensured that they could not be lit again and that he would burrow deep into the brush for protection against the elements. He realized that in the darkness under the bush he could not be seen when the robbers passed by that night. After a moment of reflection, the rabbi smiled inwardly and thought about the cold, wet, miserable, lonely night.... and then he thought, "Even in this there is good."

Sometimes, when things appear to be going wrong and getting worse, we are actually being blessed by the Presence of God, as Spirit moves within us to prepare the way for something even better--a wonderful blessing from God. The rabbi is reminding us of this Great Truth when he says, "Even in this, there is good."