Mister Rogers On Modim

Did you ever wonder why it is that when we say the prayer of Modim - Thanks, we bow? I was once supervised (for a social work position) by an excellent teacher. Most times I'd ask her one a question relating to the process of my work she'd reply, "Think about it." (G-d bless Ruth Rosado of Selfhelp.) Before you read on I ask you to think about the question of Modim and bowing and how it applies to life.

In the posthumous work Life's Journey's According To Mister Rogers, Fred Rogers writes:

"For a long time I've wondered why I felt like bowing when people showed their appreciation for the work that I've been privileged to do. It's been a kind of natural response to a feeling of great gratitude. What I've come to understand is that we who bow are probably - whether we know it or not - acknowledging the presence of the sacred. We're bowing to the scared in our neighbor.

You see, I believe that appreciation is a holy thing - that when we look for what's best in a person we happen to be with at that moment, we're doing what G-d does all the time. So in loving and appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something sacred.

As I bow, I always feel like saying, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'