The Natural Order
On a trip to Los Angeles, I visited an enormous bakery which produces cakes, breads, and a host of other baked goods. Upon entering the kitchen, I found a machine, some hundreds of meters long. Flour is poured into one end, and fragrant, freshly-baked bread comes out of the other end. I was mesmerized by this hunk of metal and watched how it operates. After a specific amount of flour was measured into it, it would sift out the chaff. Water and other ingredients enter automatically. This machine never becomes tired and works the ingredients very well, kneading them into a soft, supple dough.
I was entranced as I observed all the steps of braiding, baking, and packaging, until the products were ready for sale.
It struck me that when a person watches such a machine, he may think it is supernatural. In a most wonderful manner, it has produced food fit for human consumption. But anyone with any sense in his head knows that this is not the case.
Whatever is produced by this massive machine is due only to those who operate it, who feed it with flour, electricity, and the proper instructions. Without human intervention, this machine would be useless.
So is the world of Hashem. Looking at it from the outside, one may think that luminaries, the clouds, and the rain are all-powerful. The earth and other natural elements combine to bring us abundant wheat and succulent fruits.
But upon reflection, one will realize that there is a Master behind the scenes. It is His power alone which causes the elements of nature to function optimally. Without His intervention, the world would not only cease to function; it would simply cease to be.
