Difficulty as Opportunity

Our turbulent world sometimes hangs on the stormy thread of a mood. And when we understand what depresses our spirit, what causes us in hard personal periods to pass from one day to the next in unending difficulty, we see that sometimes it is indeed a stormy thread - but only apparently so. For it is a sign that conceals behind it a far greater and deeper request for progress, liberty, freedom, and goodness. And the will to break through presses and weighs upon us. The Rav likens this to a depth and an abyss containing precious stones within it, and calls us to understand the difficult place as an opportunity and a call to ascent.