THE BOY WHO BLEW THE WHISTLE (KB)

PRAYER & MEDITATION

By Karen Berg.

    

There is a story about a simple shepherd boy who did not know how to pray. He was sad because he did not know how to reach the Gates of Heaven. Nevertheless, he desired so strongly to know and be close to the Creator that he stood outside the house of prayer, took his whistle, and blew it with all his heart.

Meanwhile, inside the house of prayer was a group of people who knew all the prayers but who also could not open the Gates of Heaven. When they heard the boy blowing his whistle outside, they called out, "Stop it!” and then muttered to themselves, “How can he do such a thing? Here we are in prayer and meditation, and he is blowing a whistle."

The great kabbalist the Baal Shem Tov was in there among the people and he said, "Wait, stop yelling at him. The gates are open. The boy has opened up the Gates of Heaven with the sincerity of his heart!"

Most of us probably do not know all the words of all the prayers, and we may not be the most knowledgeable in spiritual matters. But really, it doesn’t matter because when our heart is pure and when we sing and pray in gratitude and love for being alive, we all are that boy with the whistle.

-