63. Joseph

Joseph was imprisoned in Egypt. He knew there was purpose in his being there; that when the time came he would be released.

Eventually, it happened: Pharaoh’s cupbearer asked Joseph to interpret his dream. Joseph thought, “This is it! This man is the means by which I shall be redeemed.”

He interpreted the dream favorably: the cupbearer would soon be released. And he asked one thing: “Plead for me before Pharaoh.”

The dream was fulfilled; the cupbearer was released.
And he promptly forgot Joseph until two years later.

The wise men say that had Joseph not relied on the Egyptian, but solely on G-d alone, he would have been released two years earlier.

There is no person, no thing, no scheme upon which your livelihood or your fate rests.
There is only the flow of blessing from Above.

True, that flow clothes itself in tangible means, in job opportunities, in new clientele, in fresh markets, in well-connected acquaintances
-but all these are only channels, not the source. Grasp any one of them and it may crumble in your hands.

Grasp the Source of Life.