What in the world is going on?!

I try not to read the news. I try to avoid the news websites and the magazines and papers that bring the news into my home. The news dazzles and confuses. We can always find some tragedy to hold up and either cry from or encourage ourselves with, saying that surely Moshiach is on his way.

But reading the news is like putting on dark glasses that block one's view of reality.

Part of the problem is that no matter what we read we are completely missing the point.

A while ago, I read the headline that said Olmert is giving 250 prisoners to Abbas as a good-will gesture.

My blood began to boil. Is he nuts? On PA television, Abbas is spurring on his people to more and more hatred of the Jews living next door, and we need to show him good will?

As the juices start running in my head I catch myself. I let out a laugh! This makes no sense!

The joke is that the thought is so ludicrous it is clearly Hashem peeking out from behind the scenes.

Hashem you say? In Olmert's idiocy? Come now, you must be kidding. Olmert is just a fool who somehow made it into a position of power by a fluke. Soon we will be rid of him and all will be well. But to say that Hashem is behind his lunacy?

But get this, folks. If you want to find Hashem, you actually have to look for the joke. Find the point that makes absolutely no sense. That is where He is found. How do I explain that?

Things start to make sense when we internalize the fact that Hashem Himself is pulling all the strings. He is placing all of the chess pieces in their positions in order to bring about the final checkmate. He is putting the ideas in the heads of the leaders of each country, orchestrating events so that a beautiful concerto will soon be heard. As the orchestra gets in tune and is about to start playing, the room sounds like a rather awful cacophony. One would be hard pressed to believe that a symphony is about to be heard.

Then the conductor lifts his wand and the whole room is silent, and the music begins.

One could think that the music has only just begun, but in truth, the music was written before and each musician received the musical notes specially prepared for the part he was to play. The conductor also invested much time and effort placing each instrument in its proper place. The wind instruments in their place, the strings in theirs, the brass in theirs, and the percussive instruments in theirs. The concert actually began long before the conductor raised his wand.

One with a discerning ear can indeed hear the music long before. Such a person sees the careful placement and planning, yet hears the cacophony directly preceding the symphony and is struck with the utter humor of the situation. Others will notice the irony only in retrospect. Still others will miss the fact that there ever was an irony to begin with.

We can choose the group we wish to be a part of.